THE  SOCIAL  CENTER 


The 
National  Municipal  League  Series 

EDITED  BY 
CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF 

Secretary  of  the  National  Municipal  League 


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OTHER    VOLUMES    IN    PREPARATION 

D.    APPLETON      AND      COMPANY 
NEW  YORK  LONDON 

173 


NATIONAL    MUNICIPAL    LEAGUE    SERIES 


THE   SOCIAL  CENTER 


EDITED    BY 

EDWARD   J.  WARD 

ADVISER  IN  CIVIC  AND   SOCIAL  CENTER  DEVELOPMENT,   UNIVERSITY 
EXTENSION  DIVISION,    THE   UNIVERSITY   OF   WISCONSIN 


NEW  YORK    AND    LONDON 
D.    APPLETON    AND     COMPANY 

1913 


r 


COPYRIGHT,  1013,  BY 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE 

"It  is  necessary  that  simple  means  should  be  found 
by  which,  by  an  interchange  of  points  of  view,  we  may 
get  together,  for  the  whole  process  of  modern  life,  the 
whole  process  of  modern  politics,  is  a  process  by  which 
we  must  exclude  misunderstandings,  *  *  *  bring 
all  men  into  common  counsel  and  so  discover  what  is 
the  common  interest.  That  is  the  problem  of  modern 
life  which  is  so  specialized  that  it  is  almost  devitalized, 
so  disconnected  that  the  tides  of  life  will  not  flow. 

"There  is  no  sovereignty  of  the  people  if  the  several 
sections  of  the  people  are  at  loggerheads  with  one  an- 
other. Sovereignty  comes  with  cooperation.  *  *  * 

"You  say  and  all  men  say  that  great  political  changes 
are  impending  in  this  country.  Why  do  you  say  so? 
Because  everywhere  you  find  men  *  *  *  deter- 
mined to  solve  the  problems  by  acting  together,  no  mat- 
ter what  older  bonds  they  may  break,  no  matter  what 
former  prepossessions  they  may  throw  off,  determined 
to  get  together." 

These  sentences  are  taken  from  the  address  of  Gover- 
nor Wilson  upon  citizenship  organization  and  the  use 
of  the  schoolhouse  as  the  neighborhood  center  of  this 

v 

272120 


vi  PREFACE 

all-inclusive  association,  given  at  the  opening  of  the 
First  National  Conference  on  Social  Center  Develop- 
ment, one  year  before  his  election  to  the  Presidency  of 
the  United  States. 

Among  a  group  of  men  who  gathered  after  the 
meeting,  one  said:  "With  the  powerful  cooperation  of 
Woodrow  Wilson  as  President,  it  is  not  impossible  that 
the  basic  program  of  the  social  center — the  self-organi- 
zation of  the  voting  body  into  a  deliberative  body  to 
supplant  party  divisions — may  be  effected  in  one  admin- 
istration." 

During  the  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  election 
of  President  Wilson  he  repeatedly  referred  to  the  social 
center  opportunity,  speaking  of  it  as  of  fundamental  and 
inspiring  importance.  Moreover,  this  idea  was  lifted 
during  the  campaign  far  above  being  merely  a  party 
project  by  the  fact  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  strongly 
urged  the  logical  procedure  of  shifting  the  polling  places 
into  the  schoolhouses  and  then  making  them  the  delib- 
erative as  well  as  voting  headquarters  of  district  political 
organization,  "the  senate  chambers  of  the  people,"  and 
President  Taft,  following  the  example  of  Justice  Hughes, 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  who,  when  gover- 
nor of  New  York,  said  of  the  social  center  movement: 
"I  am  more  interested  in  what  you  are  doing  and  what 
it  stands  for  than  anything  else  in  the  world,"  author- 
ized the  hearty  approval  of  this  plan  by  the  chairman 
of  the  national  Republican  committee. 

The  unanimous  endorsement  of  the  social  center  idea 


PREFACE  vii 

by  these  party  leaders  and  by  such  bodies  as  the  National 
Education  Association  has  been  accompanied  by  the 
beginning  of  social  center  development  in  so  many 
communities  throughout  the  country  that  the  rapid 
equipment  of  the  whole  citizenship  with  this  means  of 
its  intelligent  self-expression  seems  assured. 

To  aid  in  the  recognition  of  the  social  center  oppor- 
tunity is  the  purpose  of  this  volume. 

E.   J.   W. 

University  of  Wisconsin, 
November,  1912. 


INTRODUCTION 

This  volume  is  the  outcome  of  years  of  thought  and 
personal  activity  on  the  part  of  Edward  J.  Ward.  While 
some  of  the  chapters  are  the  contributions  of  other  pens 
than  his,  I  am  sure  all  will  be  willing  to  admit  that  the 
inspiration  for  these  contributions  was  Mr.  Ward's. 

As  director  of  recreational  facilities  at  Rochester,  Mr. 
Ward  was  able  to  develop  the  social  center  idea  in  a 
number  of  Rochester  schools  as  he  so  vividly  portrays. 
With  this  as  a  background  he  has  carried  forward  a 
propaganda  which  has  reached  every  part  of  the  country 
and  has  resulted  in  the  three  great  national  parties  in- 
dorsing the  idea  during  the  recent  presidential  campaign. 

This  volume  is  the  outcome  of  the  consideration  given 
to  the  whole  subject  at  the  Buffalo  meeting  of  the  Na- 
tional Municipal  League  and  includes  not  only  the  ripe 
product  of  Mr.  Ward's  thought,  but  the  advice  and  sug- 
gestions of  his  colleagues  who  have  also  thought  long 
and  worked  steadily  for  the  advancement  of  the  idea. 
Within  the  past  two  years  Wisconsin  has  required  the 
school  boards  to  make  free  and  adequate  provision  for 
the  use  of  school  houses  as  neighborhood  headquarters 
for  political  discussion.  As  this  introduction  is  being 
written  early  in  the  year,  the  prospects  are  that  a  very 

ix 


x  INTRODUCTION 

considerable  number  of  other  states  will  follow  the 
precedent  thus  established  and  within  the  year  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  Mr.  Ward's  fight  will  be  practically  won 
with  only  the  details  to  be  worked  out.  Briefly  stated, 
Mr.  Ward  believes  with  all  his  heart  and  urges,  with  all 
his  abundant  force  and  vitality,  that  the  school  house, 
being  community  property,  should  be  utilized  for  com- 
munity purposes.  It  should  be  the  polling  place,  and 
before  that  the  place  for  the  discussion  of  political  ideas. 
It  should  be  the  social  center  of  the  community  for  adults 
and  children  alike.  In  fact,  it  should  be  the  animating 
civic  factor  in  the  community. 

The  editor  of  the  National  Municipal  League  series  has 
unusual  pleasure  in  sending  forth  this  volume  as  a  source 
of  information  and  inspiration  to  the  growing  list  of 
workers  for  democratic  municipal  government  in  this 
country.  It  has  a  fitting  place  in  the  series,  providing  as 
it  does  for  the  formulation  of  that  sound  public  sentiment 
without  which  there  can  be  no  true  and  permanent  success 
in  the  matter  of  self-government. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — DISCOVERY — NOT  CREATION i 

II. — DELIBERATION — THEN  DECISION  .        .        .        .19 

III. — THE  VOTERS'  LEAGUE 43 

IV. — POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION — NOT  PARTITION  .        .      69 

V. — LIKE  HOME 96 

VI. — PRACTICAL  POLITICS 123 

VII.— WHAT  WE  HAVE— WHAT  WE  WANT    .        .        .152 

VIII. — BEGINNINGS  IN  ROCHESTER  AND  ELSEWHERE       .     175 

IX. — THE  PUBLIC  LECTURE  CENTER    .        .        .        .207 

X. — THE  BRANCH  PUBLIC  LIBRARY    .        .        .        .212 

XL— THE  PUBLIC  ART  GALLERY 221 

XII.— THE  Music  CENTER 228 

XIII. — THE   FESTIVAL   CENTER       .  .  234 

XIV. — THE  MOTION  PICTURE  THEATER  .        .        .        .241 

XV. — THE  RECREATION  CENTER   .--      .        .        .        .252 

XVI. — THE  VOCATION  CENTER  AND  EMPLOYMENT  BUREAU     271 

XVII.—  THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH  OFFICE       ...        .        .283 

XVIIL— THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  IN  THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY  .    302 

XIX. — THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  AND  THE  UNIVERSITY    .        .315 

XX. — THE  MAGNIFIED  SCHOOL 324 

APPENDIX 339 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 344 

INDEX »  353 


THE    SOCIAL    CENTER 


CHAPTER   I 

DISCOVERY — NOT  CREATION 

The  social  center  of  any  community  is  the  common 
gathering  place,  the  head-and-heart  quarters,  of  the  so- 
ciety whose  members  are  the  people  of  that  community. 

The  proposal  to  have  in  every  neighborhood  in  Amer- 
ica an  institution  wherein  people  may  and  will  gather  of 
right,  across  all  different  lines  of  opinion,  creed  and 
income,  upon  a  common  ground  of  interest  and  duty,  just 
as  neighboring  citizens,  is  not  a  new  project.  On  the 
contrary,  such  an  institution  not  only  is  now  established, 
but  it  is  the  fundamentally  and  supremely  essential  insti- 
tutipn  of  our  government.  Democracy  would  be  im- 
possible without  such  a  converging  point  in  each  com-; 
munity.  Whatever  changes  we  may  make  in  the  machin- 
ery of  public  business  administration,  the  common  neigh- 
borhood gathering  place,  the  social  center,  must  remain — 
the  permanent  institution  of  America. 

Our  established  unit  of  neighborhood  is  the  voting 
precinct.  The  established  neighborhood  social  center  is 
the  polling  place.  The  United  States  is  divided  into 
neighborhoods,  districts  small  enough  so  that  all  of  the 
electors  in  each  district  may  come  to  a  common  center. 

I 


2  THE- -SOCIAL   CENTER 

The  large  Society  ot  America,  whose  representative  head- 
quarters or  capitol  is  at  Washington,  is  divided  into  little 
neighborhood  societies,  whose  headquarters  or  capitols — 
not  representative  but  immediate — are  the  polling  places. 
The  active  membership  of  the  Association  of  America 
is  divided  into  neighborhood  association  memberships, 
which  are  enrolled  upon  the  voting  registers  at  the 
polling  places. 

Recently  there  have  sounded  urgent  calls  for  "citizen- 
ship-organization." These  have  been  spoken  by  men 
who  see  the  imperative  necessity  of  vitalizing  the  common 
bond  of  civic  obligation  and  so  strengthening  the  cord 
upon  which  all  the  beads  of  a  democratic  civilization  are 
strung.  For  instance,  William  Burnett  Wright  of  Buf- 
falo, who  as  a  city  councilman  and  as  a  member  of  the 
state  legislature  of  New  York,  has  studied  at  first  hand 
the  problem  of  protecting  the  welfare  of  a  disintegrated 
public  against  the  encroachments  of  united  private 
interests,  says:  "The  private  interests  are  organized; 
therefore  they  get  things.  Only  when  the  citizenship  is 
organized  will  the  public  interest  be  conserved."  In  an 
article  entitled  "The  Organization  of  the  Electorate,"  * 
William  Watts  Folwell  says :  "If  democracy  is  to  sur- 
vive and  provide  good  government  it  must  become  or- 
ganic, constitutionally  organic.  Electors  must  be  visibly 
and  physically  associated,  and  possess  an  apparatus  by 
which  they  can  cooperate  effectively."  Both  these  men, 
and  others  who  are  conscious  of  a  fundamental  lack  in 
the  machinery  of  democracy,  make  this  proposal  of  citi- 
zenship-organization as  though  it  were  an  entirely  new 
project,  as  though  there  were  now  no  established  inte- 
grating and  articulating  center  of  such  organization.  In- 

*  Review  of  Reviews,  April,  1912. 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  3 

deed,  Professor  Folwell  says:  "Now  our  American 
electors  have  no  legitimate  organization,  form  no  so- 
ciety." 

It  may  be  that  the  authors  of  these  proposals  live  in 
neighborhoods  whose  voting  places  are  located  in  livery 
stables  or  barber  shops,  so  that,  on  account  of  the  en- 
vironment of  the  established  civic  headquarters,  they  fail 
to  recognize  in  it  the  uniting  social  center  which  makes 
of  the  citizenship  within  the  area  of  its  use  the  actually 
connected  membership  of  a  real  corporate  body. 

Whether  the  fact  that  the  polling  places  in  Mr. 
Wright's  and  Professor  Folwell's  neighborhoods  may  be 
located  in  a  livery  stable,  a  barber  shop,  or  a  temporary 
shack  set  up  in  the  street,  has  anything  to  do  with  their 
ignoring  the  presence  of  this  articulating  center  of  citi- 
zenship-organization, it  is  unquestionably  true  that  the 
failure  on  the  part  of  the  average  citizen  to  appreciate 
the  civic  bond  as  a  living  union,  an  active  membership  in 
a  vital,  wealthy,  powerful  and  tremendously  responsible 
fraternal  organization,  is  in  part  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  neighborhood  headquarters  of  this  organization  is 
usually  not  permanently  housed  in  a  fittingly  dignified 
and  worthy  building. 

Ask  the  average  man  to  name  the  headquarters  of 
government  in  this  country,  this  state,  this  town ;  he  will 
probably  name  the  capitol  at  Washington,  then  the  state 
house,  then  the  city  or  town  hall.  It  is  as  though  the  politi- 
cal authority  still  came  down  from  above,  through  a  sov- 
ereign at  the  national  capitol  ordained  and  commissioned 
from  up  in  the  air,  down  to  the  state  capitols,  and  on 
down  to  and  through  the  town  halls  to  the  people.  The 
idea  that  our  machinery  for  getting  our  public  or  asso- 
ciation business  done  is  something  above  us  to  which  it 
is  our  duty  to  bow,  is  expressed  in  our  use  of  the  word 


4  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

government  in  speaking  of  our  great  cooperation.  The 
word  suggests  the  authority  of  a  superior  will  imposed 
upon  a  subject  whose  duty  it  is  simply  to  obey,  to  submit, 
to  be  governed.  The  connotation  that  the  relation  of 
the  individual  to  the  nation  is  one  of  filial  subordination, 
as  though  there  were  at  the  head  of  the  American  house- 
hold a  political  father  to  be  obeyed,  is  implied  in  our 
speaking  of  national  devotion  as  patriotism  (from  pater, 
father).  The  same  suggestion  of  a  political  being  above 
us,  not  paternal  this  time,  but  royal,  is  in  the  word  loy- 
alty, which,  as  we  use  it  in  speaking  of  our  feeling 
toward  the  nation,  suggests  not  an  outreaching,  unlimited 
fellowship  identification,  but  an  upward  looking  devo- 
tion as  to  a  king.  While  we  no  longer  speak  of  our 
public  officials  as  rulers,  yet  something  of  this  idea  re- 
mains in  our  calling  the  executive  officers  of  our  state 
associations  governors.  And  in  the  cities  the  old  subor- 
dinate attitude  is  plainly  expressed  when  we  refer  to  the 
members  of  our  committees  on  municipal  business  as 
city  fathers,  implying  that  we  who  engage  them  in  our 
service  are  city  children.  And  we  still  call  judges,  mag- 
istrates (from  magister,  master),  and  their  umpirings, 
decrees.  Consistent  with  this  idea  of  the  government  as 
something  above  us  is  our  speaking  of  the  rules  of  pro- 
cedure, upon  which,  either  directly  or  through  $ur 
agents,  we  agree,  as  laws  "handed  down."  And  con- 
sistent with  this  idea  is  our  common  attitude  toward 
taxes  as  being  "imposed"  like  tribute  instead  of  being 
our  cooperative  investment,  "chipped  in"  to  purchase  at 
wholesale  benefits  which  each  of  us  can  use  without 
having  the  bother  or  expense  of  owning  individually. 
In  a  word,  we  think  of  the  flag  as  though  it  were  a 
symbol  of  something  above  us,  instead  of  the  symbol 
of  the  vital  connecting  something  between  us. 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  5 

Now,  this  attitude  toward  the  government  as  though 
it  were  something  over  the  citizenship  is,  of  course,  the 
persistence  of  the  habit  of  thought  developed  in  mon- 
archical and  feudal  days,  when  to  be  a  member  of  a 
nation  was  to  be  the  subject  of  a  king,  the  liegeman  of 
a  lord.  Obviously,  this  upward  look,  whether  of  rev- 
erence or  of  fear,  toward  the  government  as  above,  is 
quite  contrary  to  the  democratic  idea.  But  so  long  as 
these  ties  held  unweakened,  so  long  as  we  kept  unques- 
tioningly,  this  respectful,  childish  deference  toward  the 
source  of  authority  in  the  political  parenthood  of  the 
government,  this  common  reverence  was  the  means  of 
our  unity  as  a  people. 

But  slowly  the  filial  sense  of  subordination  under  the 
government  as  a  power  above  is  giving  way.  The  up- 
ward running  ties  of  reverence  by  which  we  here  held 
together  in  a  common  attitude  of  awe,  as  children  under 
a  parent,  are  being  cut  through,  worn  out,  denied  by 
our  growing  sense  of  democracy ;  and  with  their  cutting 
our  old  unity  is  going.  Politically  orphaned,  we  are  be- 
coming conscious  that,  like  children  when  the  parental 
protection  and  authority  is  gone,  we  must  assume  to  be 
grown  up  now,  for  the  responsibilities  of  ordering  the 
household  are  ours.  Consciously,  or  unconsciously,  we 
are  losing  the  unity  of  obedience ;  how  shall  we  find  the 
unity  of  agreement?  We  are  losing  the  unity  of  a 
family;  how  shall  we  find  the  unity  of  a  fellowship? 
We  are  losing  the  unity  of  subordination ;  how  shall  we 
find  the  unity  of  coordination?  We  are  losing  the  bind- 
ing obligation  of  reverence  for  law ;  how  shall  we  find 
the  binding  obligation  of  accord?  We  are  losing  the 
unity  of  followers ;  how  shall  we  find  the  unity  of  fel- 
lows ?  We  are  losing  the  unity  of  common  dependence ; 
how  shall  we  find  the  community  of  interdependence? 
2 


6  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

How?  The  way  is  plain,  for  in  another  form  this  is 
exactly  the  same  problem  which  confronted  our  an- 
cestors when  the  old  filial  unity  among  the  colonies  in 
their  common  subordination  to  Great  Britain  was  re- 
moved, and  they  found  the  way  of  establishing  the 
ground  of  fraternal  unity  among  the  orphaned  com- 
monwealths. 

Before  1776,  the  separate  colonies  in  this  country  had 
no  serious  difficulties  in  getting  on  peacefully  together: 
they  were  kept  from  squabbling  among  themselves  by 
the  fact  that,  as  with  children  in  a  household,  when  the 
parent  is  at  hand,  they  had  the  recognized  authority  of 
Great  Britain  over  them  to  settle  disputes  and  keep 
them  in  order.  Theirs  was  the  unity  of  immaturity,  of 
dependence,  of  obedience,  of  subordination.  The  colo- 
nies were  children,  and  like  children  they  grew  up,  came 
to  a  time  when  they  questioned  the  parental  authority 
and,  arriving  at  adulthood,  denied  it,  and  cut  those  com- 
mon upward  running  ties  of  reverence  and  obedience  in 
which  they  had  found  their  former  unity. 

Then  came  "the  critical  period"  of  American  History. 
The  old  unity  of  dependence,  obedience,  subordination 
to  authority  gone;  how  did  they,  those  individual  colo- 
nies, adjust  themselves  to  the  responsibilities  of  their 
adulthood?  How  did  the  old  loyalism  become  the  new 
fraternity?  How  did  they  learn  the  obligation  of  agree- 
ment in  place  of  the  old  reverence  for  the  king's  decree  ? 

The  problem  of  adjustment  between  sovereign  indi- 
viduals and  the  problem  of  adjustment  between  sov- 
ereign groups  of  people  may  seem  different,  but  they 
are  not  different,  for  every  individual  person  is,  in  the 
diversity  of  his  moods,  a  commonwealth,  every  com- 
monwealth is  a  person.  The  problem  which  our  ances- 
tors had  in  finding  a  new  basis  of  right  relationship 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  7 

among  the  commonwealths,  which  had  ceased  to  be  colo- 
nies, was  exactly  the  great  problem  of  democracy  which 
confronts  us — the  problem  of  finding  a  basis  of  right 
relationship  among  citizens  who  have  ceased  to  regard 
themselves  as  subjects.  Their  solution  must  be  ours. 

How  did  they  bring  it  about,  that  instead  of  con- 
tinuing the  weakness  of  disintegration,  the  slavery  of 
suspicion,  the  imbecility  of  competition  among  the  colo- 
nies, there  was  developed  the  strength,  the  freedom, 
the  dignity  of  ordered  cooperation?  How  did  they 
bring  it  about  that  intercolonial  disputes  came  to  be 
settled  by  orderly  discussion  together  instead  of  dis- 
orderly separation  and  appeal  to  force?  How  did  they 
bring  it  about,  that  the  very  points  in  which  the  colonies 
differed — such  matters  as  the  coinage — became  matters 
to  get  together  over  instead  of  matters  to  separate  over, 
to  unite  upon  instead  of  to  fight  about,  links  instead  of 
wedges  ? 

It  was  not  by  the  mere  appeal  to  the  sentiment  of 
sympathy,  of  mutual  respect,  or  brotherhood  among  the 
colonies.  That  sentiment  came  among  those  common- 
wealths as  it  comes  among  individuals,  not  as  a  cause 
of  their  coordination,  but  as  a  result  of  their  coordina- 
tion. It  is  significant  and  suggestive  that  the  League 
of  Friendship  proved  insufficient. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  was  found  in  the  creation 
of  machinery  for  the  orderly  presentation  and  free  dis- 
cussion of  the  questions  over  which,  without  this  ma- 
chinery, the  commonwealths  had  begun  to  resort  to  the 
more  primitive  appeals  to  force.  It  was  the  establish- 
ment in  the  midst  of  the  colonies  of  an  institution  not 
belonging  to  any  one  or  group  of  them,  but  belonging  to 
all  of  them,  a  common  ground  of  understanding.  It 
was  the  setting  up  of  machinery  by  which,  when  their 


8  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

opinions  differed,  they  might,  in  resolving  these  differ- 
ences, use  their  heads  instead  of  losing  them. 

The  colonies  differed  in  political  opinion,  in  religious 
beliefs,  in  economic  interests,  in  manners  of  living,  and 
in  tastes.  But  the  frictions,  deceptions,  hostilities,  which 
vexed  them  in  their  relations  to  one  another,  began  to 
disappear  just  as  soon  as  the  machinery  which  invited 
intelligent  discussion  and  cooperation  among  them  was 
constructed.  The  results  of  misunderstanding  between 

ythem  began,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  vanish,  as  soon 
as  there  was  established  a  common  ground  on  which 
they  might  find  a  basis  of  understanding.  To  be  sure, 
this  society  of  the  commonwealths  which  they  estab- 
lished, this  coordinated  union  of  the  states  which  they 
affected  was  later  strained  by  the  attempted  revolt  of  a 
part  of  its  members,  who,  holding  to  the  beautiful,  but 
impractical  anarchist  philosophy  of  the  right  of  the 
minority  not  only  to  be  heard,  but  to  control,  attempted 
to  secede  from  the  association  when  the  majority  of  its 
members  decided  against  their  desire.  But,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  this  one  point  of  disagreement  between  the 
states,  all  the  problems  of  their  relations  with  one  an- 
other were  in  the  way  of  peaceful  adjustment  when  a 
common  ground  of  meeting  and  orderly  cooperation, 
an  intercolonial  social  center,  as  headquarters  for  this 
society  of  the  commonwealths,  was  instituted. 

Now  the  problem  of  bringing  the  order,  efficiency, 
economy  of  effort,  and  strength  of  a  united  citizenship 
out  of  the  present  inter-individual  chaos  must  find  its 
solution  by  the  same  method  in  which  the  order  and 
strength  of  the  United  ^States  was  brought  out  of  the 
chaos  of  disunion,  antagonism,  and  weakness  of  the  dis- 
membered colonies.  Being  associated  as  neighbors, 
they — the  colonies — formed  an  orderly  neighborhood 


DISCOVERY— NOT  CREATION  9 

association  with  a  common  headquarters,  an  association 
which  included  all  of  them  in  an  equality  of  membership. 
Being  interdependent,  they  recognized  their  interdepen- 
dence, and  through  coordination  brought  it  about  that 
points  of  contact  became  points  of  connection  instead  of 
points  of  collision. 

The  keenest  thinking  of  this  past  fifty  years  has  been 
devoted  to  devising  machinery  by  which  things  should 
work  together  for  good,  by  which  mechanical  forces 
should  be  combined  for  the  service  of  man.  We  have 
learned  that  not  only  the  apparently  useless  but  even  de- 
structive forces  may  be  so  directed  as  to  produce  good, 
provided  the  machinery  is  properly  constructed.  The 
water  pressure  which  might  mean  the  devastation  of  the 
valley,  converted  into  directed  power,  by  the  construc- 
tion of  right  machinery,  means  its  life.  It  is  strange, 
indeed,  that  we  have  been  so  slow  to  recognize  that  the 
solution  of  our  problem  of  right  adjustment  among  in- 
dividual citizens  lies  practically  in  the  construction  of 
machinery  by  which  folks  may  work  together,  think 
together,  act  together  for  good,  when  in  the  establish- 
ment of  this  coordinating  machinery  was  found  the  solu- 
tion of  the  first  problem  of  our  existence  as  a  nation. 
The  colonies  did  not  just  try  to  like  each  other;  they 
established  a  social  center,,  wherein  it  would  be  possible 
to  get  together  on  common  ground,  to  disagree  agreeably 
under  rules  which  guaranteed  each  an  opportunity  to  be 
heard.  They  constructed  a  headquarters  of  coordination 
and  found  it  to  be  a  means  of  cooperation.  And  inci- 
dentally when  they  did,  they  found,  of  course,  that  most 
of  the  unpleasant  things  that  they  had  thought  about 
each  other  were  not  so. 

The  states  in  their  establishment  of  a  common  ground 
of  all-inclusive  organization  for  orderly  discussion  of 


10  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

matters  of  difference  and  for  cooperation  furnish  the 
model  upon  which  international  organization  is  begin- 
ning to  be  established  in  the  institution  of  the  world's 
social  center  at  The  Hague.  The  states  in  their  develop- 
ment of  a  common  institution  as  headquarters  of  an  all- 
inclusive  organization  for  orderly  comparison  of  differ- 
ent opinions  and  for  peaceful  compromising  of  differ- 
ences of  interest  and  for  uniting  of  effort  upon  rules  and 
policies  in  which  agreement  is  secured,  furnish  the 
model  for  the  inter-individual  organization  of  the  neigh- 
borhood— the  development  of  the  social  center  in  every 
community  in  America.  The  principle  is  exactly  the 
same  and  the  method  is  the  same,  whether  the  different 
opinions  and  interests  are  those  of  individuals,  of  states, 
or  of  nations.  The  peaceful  adjustment  of  differences, 
and  the  possibility  of  cooperation  depend  upon  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  common  ground  of  orderly  discussion. 
Machinery  is  necessary  for  coordination,  and  coopera- 
tion is  not  expectable  without  coordination. 

This  identity  in  principle  of  the  problem  of  adjust- 
ment of  different  interests  and  of  its  solution  through 
the  establishment  of  a  common  central  machinery, 
whether  among  individuals  in  the  little  community  or 
among  nations  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  world,  was 
immediately  grasped  by  the  Baroness  Bertha  Von  Sutt- 
ner  on  her  recent  visit  to  America,  in  which  she  said :  "I 
was  thrilled  when  I  learned  of  this  movement  to  make 
the  schoolhouses  neighborhood  civic  and  social  centers. 
In  principle  this  is  exactly  the  same  movement  as  the 
one  to  which  I  am  giving  my  life.  To  secure  better  under- 
standing between  the  citizens  of  a  neighborhood,  through 
the  use  of  a  neutral  place,  and  so  fine  a  place  as  the 
American  public  schoolhouse,  is  the  local  expression  of 
the  great  idea  of  international  federation  through  the 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  11 

increasing  use  and  centering  of  power  in  a  common 
place  where  discussion  of  differences  shall  replace  preju- 
dice and  appeals  to  force." 

Now,  the  problem  of  inter-individual  organization  as 
a  means  to  the  orderly  progress  of  our  democratic  so- 
ciety is  simple,  for  the  neighborhood  social  center  is,  as 
has  been  said,  already  established  in  the  voting  place, 
which  is  now  the-  focal  point  of  active  membership,  of 
interest  and  duty  *of  all  of  the  citizens  within  each  neigh- 
borhood, the  means  by  which  the  members  of  each  com- 
munity are  now  vitally  cpprdinate,  the  means  also  by 
which  the  members  of  each  neighborhood  group  are 
connected  directly  and  effectively  with  the  memberships 
of  all  other  neighborhoods  in  city,  county,  state,  and 
nation. 

The  problem  is,  therefore,  not  to  establish  the  unify- 
ing means  of  our  citizenship  organization,  but  first  to 
recognize  it,  and  then,  appreciating  its  significance,  to 
magnify  it,  and  about  it,  as  a  living  nucleus,  to  develop 
such  an  institution  as  will  furnish  the  ground  of  orderly, 
peaceful  comparison  of  our  opinions  and  compromising 
of  our  differences  of  interest,  such  an  institution  as  will 
invite  our  cooperations,  such  an  institution  as  will  make 
the  common  interest  interesting. 

Obviously,  the  first  practical  step  is  the  housing  of 
the  voting  instrument,  machine,  or  ballot  box  in  each 
neighborhood  in  a  dignified  and  permanent  building, 
which  shall  be  worthy  to  stand  as  the  headquarters  of 
democratic  cooperation,  the  place  of  final  authority  in 
America. 

A  very  considerable  part  of  our  slowness  in  adjusting 
our  thought  to  the  idea  that  the  source  of  political 
authority  in  this  country  is  not  up  in  the  air  somewhere 
above  the  capitol  at  Washington,  and  an  even  greater 


12  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

reason  for  our  slowness  to  realize  that  the  final  place 
of  authority  is  in  our  civic  cooperation  as  neighbors,  is 
in  the  fact  that  we  have  kept  the  old  monarchical  man- 
ner of  building  our  public  buildings — ranging  down  in 
magnificence  and  dignity  of  architecture  from  the  central 
capitol,  monumentally  constructed  as  though  closest  to 
the  source  of  authority,  through  the  state  houses  and 
the  city  halls,  and  finally  dwindling  to  nothing  perma- 
nent or  dignified  here  among  the  citizens. 

The  instrument  of  voting,  the  ballot  box,  of  course,  is 
the  supreme  tool  of  government,  for  the  securing  of 
which  mankind  has  struggled  and  fought,  sacrificed  and 
climbed  through  the  ages,  and  in  the  intelligent  use  of 
which  the  chief  hope  of  the  orderly  progress  of  the  race 
centers.  It  is  the  place  where  is  expressed  the  con-sent, 
the  together  feeling,  the  uniting  will,  the  sympathy,  and 
the  purpose  of  America.  If  any  institution  in  the  world 
should  be  housed  with  architectural  dignity,  it  is  the 
neighborhood  voting  center. 

Indeed,  it  has  been  proposed  that  worthy  "precinct" 
buildings  be  erected.  And  when  one  thinks  that  there 
are  buildings  erected  to  serve  as  headquarters  of  every 
sort  of  trivial,  fragmentary,  sectional  organization ;  and 
when  one  remembers  that  there  are  public  buildings  now 
provided  for  the  gathering  of  the  members  of  all  sub- 
ordinate public  bodies,  aldermen,  state  legislators,  con- 
gressmen to  vote  upon  the  community  matters  within 
their  respective  spheres,  the  proposal  of  erecting  in  each 
district  a  worthy  building  as  voting  headquarters  of  the 
fundamental  organization  of  American  citizenship  would 
be  justified,  if  there  were  not  a  more  fitting  and  worthy 
building  now  constructed  and  capable  of  being  used  to 
house  the  citizenship  gathering  to  vote. 

Besides  the  voting  precinct,  there  is  another  unit  of 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  13 

neighborhood  in  this  country — the  public  school  district. 
At  the  approximate  center  of  each  of  these  unit  neigh- 
borhoods is  a  public  building  so  located  as  to  be  within 
convenient  reach  of  the  children,  and  therefore  of  all 
the  people  of  the  neighborhood.  This  building  in  its 
present  use  as  an  educational  place  for  children  is  not 
necessarily  a  social  center,  fo'r  not  all  of  the  children 
in  every  neighborhood  gather  in  the  public  schoolhouse. 
Lines  of  religious,  financial,  and  other  difference  are 
recognized  in  the  children's  segregation  for  formal 
training;  a  part  of  the  children  in  some  neighborhoods 
go  to  private  institutions  of  various  kinds.  But  the 
building  itself  is  a  common  one,  and,  whether  any  citi- 
zen sends  his  children  to  this  neighborhood  house  or  not, 
he  shares  equally  with  all  of  the  other  citizens  in  the 
community  of  its  ownership. 

\  Now,  the  reason  why  the  schoolhouse,  rather  than  a 
specially  constructed  building,  should  be  used  as  the 
place  of  civic  cooperation  in  voting,  is  not  merely  be- 
cause of  the  economy  of  the  plan,  which  has  been  dem- 
onstrated in  large  cities  as  well  as  rural  communities, 
nor  because  of  the  convenience  in  using  an  easily  acces- 
sible building  whose  location  is  known,  but  because,  even 
though  a  building  to  house  the  civic  headquarters  were 
constructed  with  all  the  triumphant  architectural  dig- 
nity which  this  institution  of  the  voting  place  suggests, 
it  could  never  gather  about  itself  the  significance  of  com- 
mon obligation  for  the  future  which  is  embodied  in  the 
schoolhouse. 

Every  question  upon  which  Americans  vote  is  finally 
a  question  of  the  selection  of  such  servants,  and  such 
decision  of  issues  as  will  mean  a  better  environment  for 
the  children  of  Americans  next  year,  next  century.  The 
voter  goes  to  the  ballot  box  to  control  and  improve  the 


14  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

future.  His  interest  at  the  ballot  box,  if  it  is  true  and 
normal,  is  in  the  child.  Whether  the  man  has  children 
of  his  own  or  not,  when  he  goes  to  the  voting  place  it 
is  not  only  to  cooperate  in  the  fellowship  of  control  as 
a  partner  in  charge  of  America  for  to-day,  but  it  is  also, 
and  far  more  significantly,  as  a  parent  deciding  what 
America  shall  be  to-morrow  for  those  who  are  children 
to-day.  This  civic  parentalism,  finding  expression  at  the 
voting  place  and  giving  to  the  ballot  box  its  highest  and 
deepest  significance,  cannot  be  expressed  in  any  other 
building.  It  is  expressed  in  the  essential  nature  of  the 
characteristic  building  of  America,  the  public  school- 
house. 

Every  one  of  these  neighborhood  public  buildings,  as 
it  stands  to-day,  is  capable  of  being  used  as  a  polling 
place,  a  gathering  place  for  the  neighbors'  participation 
in  the  control  of  America,  a  convenient  and  worthy 
headquarters  for  the  established  district  organization  of 
the  electorate. 

The  detail,  as  to  the  part  of  any  particular  schoolhouse 
which  may  be  used  as  the  permanent  voting  headquarters 
of  the  neighborhood,  depends,  of  course,  upon  the  plan 
and  equipment  of  the  building.  Jf,  as  is  very  rapidly 
coming  to  be  the  case,  there  is  a  first-floor  neighborhood 
or  community  room,  a  combination  gymnasium  and  as- 
sembly hall,  with  an  entrance  directly  from  the  street, 
this,  or  a  smaller  room  in  connection  with  this,  is  the 
suitable  place.  Where  such  a  ground-floor  assembly  hall 
or  community  room  does  not  yet  exist,  any  ground-floor 
room,  or  even  the  corridor,  may  be  used.  In  Grand 
Rapids,  Michigan,  where  the  school  buildings  have  been 
used  for  voting  for  a  number  of  years,  the  kindergar- 
ten room  is  the  part  of  the  building  used.  In  school- 
houses  where  there  is  no  room  on  the  ground  floor  in 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  15 

which  there  are  not  seats,  the  plan  is  followed  of  placing 
the  desks  on  "skids,"  thin  strips  of  hard  wood,  three  or 
four  seats  and  desks  together,  and  moving  them  back 
while  the  room  is  in  use  for  voting.  In  Los  Angeles, 
in  some  cases  the  wide  corridors  or  halls  are  used  in  those 
buildings  which  have  no  community  room.  In  the  one- 
room  rural  schoolhouse,  there  is  easily  found  room;  for, 
as  a  rule,  voters  come  only  one  or  two  or  three  at  a  time, 
so  that  there  is  but  small  space  required.  As  to  the  dis- 
turbance to  the  children  in  the  regular  school  work,  this 
has  been  found  easily  obviated,  even  where  class-rooms 
are  used.  But  all  of  the  difficulty  in  improvising  the 
voting  place  is  temporary,  for  the  tendency  to  regard 
'no  school  building  as  complete  which  has  not  a  com- 
munity hall  in  connection  with  it  is  so  strong  that  not 
only  are  new  schoolhouses  being  built  with  such  rooms 
included  in  the  plans,  but  in  several  places  in  the  country 
ground-floor  combination  assembly  halls  and  gymna- 
siums are  being  added  to  existing  schoolhouses. 

The  more  important  detail  as  to  the  personnel  of  the 
election  clerk  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter  in 
the  discussion  of  the  work  of  the  civic  secretary.  It  is 
here  sufficient  merely  to  say  that  the  shifting  of  the  ma- 
chinery of  voting  from  the  haphazard  location  which  it 
now  occupies  into  the  established  neighborhood  public 
building,  implies  the  changing  of  the  office  of  the  voting 
teller  or  clerk  from  its  present  miscellaneous  and  tempo- 
rary character  to  that  of  one  of  the  established  functions 
of  the  competent  and  responsible  public  servant. 

In  the  movement  for  making  the  schoolhouse  the  vot- 
ing headquarters,  the  municipal  economy,  efficiency, 
scientific  management  argument  is  the  one  first  spoken 
as  a  rule.  And  this  argument  is  so  obvious  that  it 
scarcely  needs  stating.  Here  are  the  buildings,  con- 


16  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

veniently  located,  lighted,  heated,  belonging  to  the  pub- 
lic, and  ready  to  be  used.  The  cost  of  building,  trans- 
porting, setting  up,  heating,  lighting,  taking  down,  and 
retransporting  and  storing  voting  booths,  or,  where 
these  are  not  used,  the  cost  of  rental  in  private  buildings 
is  an  item  of  expense  considerable  enough  to  justify  the 
claim  of  stupid  extravagance  if  not  petty  betrayal  on  the 
part  of  any  administration.  It  has  been  estimated  that 
something  more  than  seven  thousand  dollars  is  saved 
each  year  through  the  use  of  the  schoolhouses  as  polling 
places  in  a  city  of  four  hundred  thousand  population. 
Of  course  the  amount  saved  each  year  tends  constantly 
to  increase  with  the  inevitable  increasing  frequency  of 
special,  primary,  and  regular  elections.  .  Certain  it  is 
that  in  the  average  city  the  amount  saved  through  the 
use  of  the  schoolhouses  for  voting  is  enough  to  pay  a 
considerable  share  of  the  cost  of  supervision  for  the 
beginning  of  the  systematic  development  of  their  full 
use  as  complete  social  centers. 

Of  course,  in  those  parts  of  the  country  which  have 
moved  on  from  government  by  a  sex,  the  desire  to  have 
a  clean,  decent  place,  for  voting,  has  much  to  do  with 
the  use  of  the  schoolhouses  for  this  purpose.  For  in- 
stance, the  first  election  in  which  women  participated 
was  the  first  election  in  which  the  schoolhouses  were 
used  for  voting  in  Los  Angeles.  Of  course,  it  is  pleas- 
ant for  one  who  is  asked  whether  he  would  like  to  have 
his  wife  or  mother  go  to  a  livery  stable  to  vote,  to  be 
able  to  reply  that  he  would  see  no  objection  to  his  wife 
or  his  mother  going  to  a  schoolhouse  to  vote.  But  just 
why  women  should  care  more  than  men  should  care  to 
have  clean  surroundings  at  the  polling  place  is  not  ap- 
parent. 

But  neither  the  people  who  object  to  seeing  public 


DISCOVERY— NOT   CREATION  17 

money  wasted,  nor  the  people  who  have  a  taste  for  de- 
cent cleanliness,  and  who,  for  these  reasons  only,  favor 
the  use  of  the  schoolhouses  for  voting,  are  exerting  as 
strong  an  influence  in  this  direction  as  the  school  men 
and  women.  When,  for  instance,  in  the  city  of  Mil- 
waukee, the  question  whether  the  schoolhouses  should 
be  used  as  polling  places  was  referred  to  the  school  prin- 
cipals, the  vote  in  favor  of  the  project  was  unanimous. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  The  great  central  object  of  the 
training  of  youth  is  the  development  of  good  citizenship ; 
the  great  difficulty  is  in  the  visualizing  of  the  business  of 
democracy;  the  operation  of  voting  is  the  practical  first- 
hand civic  expression,  which,  if  the  scholars  can  see  it, 
makes  for  them  a  point  of  contact  from  which  they  may 
go  on  to  the  understanding  of  the  civic  process  as  a 
reality,  and  to  have  the  voting  done  in  the  schoolhouse 
is  convenient,  because  it  does  away  with  the  necessity  of 
taking  the  children  away  from  the  building  to  witness 
it.  Moreover,  the  schoolhouse  has  an  added  meaning, 
dignity,  and  significance  to  the  pupil  through  its  being 
used  for  voting. 

But  even  the  educational  value  to  the  school  in  its 
prime  service  of  using  the  building  as  the  voting  center 
in  each  neighborhood  does  not  mark  its  fundamental  im- 
portance. This  lies  in  the  fact  that  when  the  voting 
precinct  lines  are  made  identical  with  the  school  district 
boundaries,  then  the  two  units  of  neighborhood  in  this 
country  become  identical,  and  the  basic  organization  of 
the  electorate  in  each  neighborhood  finds  itself  equipped 
with  a  social  center  which  is  not  only  a  point,  but  is  also 
a  building  capable  of  being  used  for  gathering  to  decide 
upon  appointments  to  the  common  service  and  upon 
issues. 

When  the  schoolhouse  in  each  district  is  made  the 


18  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

permanent  voting  headquarters,  the  capital  of  the  citi- 
zenship organized  for  decision,  the  principle  is  estab- 
lished in  such  a  way  as  to  be  easily  understood  that  the 
wider  uses  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  community  building 
are  limited  neither  by  age  lines  nor  by  sectarian  or  other 
differences.  There  may  be  several  schools  which  dif- 
ferent groups  of  children  in  any  neighborhood  attend, 
but  there  is  only  one  voting  place  in  any  neighborhood. 
At  the  ballot  box  there  is  "neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  Bar- 
barian, Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  but  all  are  one"  in  the 
uniting  adventure  of  making  America  make  good. 

When  the  ballot  box  is  placed  in  the  schoolhouse,  this 
building  becomes,  for  all  its  possible  wider  uses,  the 
real  social  center;  and  the  way  is  clear  and  the  means 
are  at  hand  for  supplying  the  fundamental  and  supreme 
lack  in  the  machinery  of  democracy. 


CHAPTER  II 

DELIBERATION — THEN  DECISION 

It  would  be  worth  while  to  locate  the  polling  place  in 
the  school  building;  even  though  that  son  of  perdition 
who  is  the  father  of  partition  were  to  be  allowed  to  con- 
tinue ruling  our  preparation  for  the  use  of  the  common 
ballot  box;  even  though  that  party  spirit  which  Wash- 
ington called  the  "worst  enemy"  of  a  democracy  were  to 
continue  to  dominate  the  time  before  elections;  even 
though  the  supreme  jury  of  the  citizenship  were  to  keep 
on  making  its  preparation  to  render  final  verdict  on  pub- 
lic questions  by  separating  into  noisy  factions  instead  of 
by  calmly  sitting  together  with  fair  hearing  and  free 
discussion  in  judgment;  even  though  the  furnishing  of 
information  upon  which  the  public  may  wisely  decide 
the  questions  of  its  welfare  were  to  continue  to  be  given 
over  entirely  to  private,  self-interested,  and  irresponsible 
individuals  and  groups;  even  though  it  were  to  be  kept 
true  that  "the  'will  of  the  people'  is  an  emotional  reac- 
tion actuated  and  controlled  by  the  'committee  on 
rumor'  " ;  *  even  though  membership  in  the  district  body 
of  citizens,  the  direct  means  of  coordinate  fellowship  in 
the  supreme  body  of  the  government,  were  to  continue 
to  be  treated  as  though  it  were  less  important  than  mem- 
bership in  any  private  society ;  even  though,  in  a  word, 

*  Frederick  A.  Cleveland,  of  the  President's  Commission  on 
Economy  and  Efficiency. 


20  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  neighborhood  organization  of  the  electorate  were  to 
use  its  unifying  headquarters  merely  for  voting.  But 
the  importance  of  thus  permanently  and  worthily  estab- 
lishing the  primary  instrument  of  democracy  in  this 
building  is  far  greater  in  what  it  prepares  for  than  in 
what  it  accomplishes. 

When  the  voting  place  is  located  in  the  schoolhouse, 
then  the  district  organization  of  the  electorate,  the  neigh- 
borhood body  politic,  has  a  headquarters  which  invites 
use,  not  only  for  the  occasional  gathering  of  its  mem- 
bers to  decide  on  public  questions,  but  for  the  frequent 
gathering  of  its  members  for  such  organized  delibera- 
tion, such  getting  at  the  facts,  such  all-sided  hearing 
and  discussion,  as  intelligent  voting  presupposes.  In 
the  business  of  politics,  the  selecting  of  community  serv- 
ants, the  agreement  on  restraints,  the  devising  and  guid- 
ing of  cooperations,  the  together-business  which  we  call 
government,  the  citizenship  of  neighborhood,  city, 
state,  nation,  the  committee  of  the  whole,  gets  much 
of  its  deciding  on  details  done  by  subcommittees  just  as 
do  other  and  lesser  organizations. 

In  order  to  have  worked  out,  for  instance,  some  of 
the  details  of  orderly  living  together  in  a  city,  the  citi- 
zens select  certain  of  their  number  as  aldermen  or  com- 
missioners, and  give  to  them,  as  a  temporary  subcom- 
mittee, the  tasks  of  deciding  upon  such  questions  as  ap- 
pointments, rules,  investments,  and  the  administration 
of  some  of  the  cooperative  enterprises  the  citizens  have 
united  in.  Now  a  man's  prime  function  as  an  alderman 
is  simply  to  vote  on  public  questions.  It  is  exactly  the 
same  as  a  man's  or  a  woman's  prime  function  as  a  citi- 
zen, except  that  the  alderman's  responsibility  in  his  vot- 
ing is  secondary  and  delegated,  while  the  citizen's  re- 
sponsibility is  primary  and  absolute.  The  relationship 


DELIBERATION— THEN    DECISION  21 

with  other  aldermen,  into  which  a  man  enters  when  he 
becomes  an  alderman,  is  the  same  as  that  which  exists 
among  citizens  in  any  voting  precinct.  It  is  fellowship 
in  responsibility  for  participation  in  voting. 

If  the  members  of  this  subcommittee  met  their  dele- 
gated responsibility  in  the  same  manner  in  which  the 
citizens  meet  their  primary  opportunity,  then  there 
would  be  no  orderly  assembling  of  the  aldermen  to  talk 
over  the  questions  on  which  they  are  to  vote.  But,  on 
a  certain  day,  each  of  them  would  come  to  the  subcom- 
mittee voting  place,  the  city  hall,  his  idea  of  the  matters 
on  which  he  is  to  render  decision  hazy,  his  opinion  based 
on  such  chance  information  or  misinformation  as  he 
might  have,  his  judgment  unclarified,  untested,  unaug- 
mented  by  any  organized  deliberation;  and  there  in  a 
booth  apart  register  this  biased,  uninformed,  snap  judg- 
ment, and  then  go  away,  to  come  back  to  the  voting 
place  when  another  set  of  questions  regarding  the  public 
welfare  is  to  be  decided. 

That  is  not  what  the  aldermen  do.  They  are  selected 
citizens.  Presumably  they  are  better  qualified  than  other 
voters  to  decide  offhand  on  municipal  affairs.  Their 
responsibility  as  a  subcommittee  is  merely  secondary. 
Their  field  of  possible  activity  is  narrowly  limited  in 
comparison  with  the  wide  range  of  opportunity  of  the 
committee  of  the  whole  citizenship.  Nevertheless,  be- 
fore the  aldermen  begin  to  vote  on  public  questions, 
first  of  all  they  assemble  in  the  building  in  which  they 
are  to  vote,  and  there  form  a  deliberative  assembly,  or- 
ganize a  common  council,  coordinate  a  forum  wherein 
there  may  be  opportunity  for  the  orderly  presentation 
and  free  discussion  of  the  questions  upon  which  they 
are  to  vote. 

So  with  the  subcommittee  appointed  to  work  out 
3 


22  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

details  of  life  together  within  the  wider  area  ^f  the 
state.  Though  the  men  selected  as  legislators  are  pre- 
sumably even  better  equipped  to  decide  without  investi- 
gation and  counsel,  how  to  avoid  the  mistakes  and  de- 
velop the  resources  of  our  living  together,  they  would 
not  think  of  voting  on  the  matters  within  their  sphere 
of  responsibility  without  first  securing  for  themselves 
the  opportunity  for  organized  deliberation. 

And  even  where  the  subcommittee  upon  the  details  of 
our  orderly  association  is  made  up  of  men  selected  from 
the  whole  nation,  presumably  because  of  their  rare 
grasp  of  public  matters  and  their  exceptional  capacity 
for  ready  decision  upon  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it, 
these  congressmen  first  get  together  in  the  building 
where  they  are  to  vote  and  establish  means  of  orderly 
discussion  of  the  questions  which  they  are  to  decide  in 
their  voting. 

In  all  these  cases,  and  in  the  case  of  other  subordinate 
public  bodies,  school  board,  park  board,  industrial  com- 
mission, interstate  commerce  commission,  indeed,  in  the 
case  of  every  subordinate  public  body,  the  principle  is 
recognized  that  if  an  individual  is  to  vote  intelligently 
upon  a  public  question,  that  is,  a  question  which  con- 
cerns not  only  himself,  but  others  with  himself,  he  must 
have  opportunity  to  compare  his  opinion  with  that  of 
men  who  differ  from  him ;  that  is,  with  men  who  see 
facts  that  he  does  not  see,  or  who  see  solutions  which 
are  not  apparent  to  him,  for  only  so  can  his  knowledge  be 
comprehensive  enough  to  furnish  an  intelligent  basis 
for  judgment  upon  a  public  question. 

Now,  it  is  obvious  that,  if  the  voters  who  are  selected 
as  aldermen,  legislators,  congressmen,  or  members  of 
other  subordinate  public  bodies,  presumably  on  account 
of  their  readiness  in  deciding  public  questions,  need  op- 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  23 

portunity  for  organized  deliberation  that  their  decision 
may  be  intelligent,  then  the  unselected  citizens  would 
need  such  opportunity  more,  even  if  the  questions  on 
which  they  are  to  vote  were  also  secondary  in  char- 
acter. 

It  is  apparent  that,  if  the  members  of  these  sub- 
committees, whose  responsibility  is  delegated,  need  a 
chance  to  talk  things  over  in  an  orderly  manner  before 
rendering  their  decision,  then  the  members  of  the  body 
whose  duty  it  is  to  appoint  and  commission  these  agents 
and  review  their  work,  need  more  such  machinery  for 
ordered  counsel. 

And  it  is  plain  that,  if  the  members  of  each  of  these 
many  subcommittees  need  opportunity  for  participation 
in  orderly  discussion,  that  they  may  decide  intelligently 
upon  matters  within  the  respective  single  spheres  of  their 
particular  jurisdictions,  then  the  need  of  the  members 
of  the  committee  of  the  whole  citizenship  for  such  or- 
ganized deliberative  opportunity  is  many  times  as  great, 
for  they  must  first  and  finally  decide  upon  the  problems 
within,  not  one,  but  all  of  these  spheres. 

Of  course,  just  as  there  are  among  the  citizens  in  the 
average  voting  precinct,  men  and  women  of  different 
religious  affiliations,  different  racial,  financial,  cultural 
and  taste  associations,  so  there  are,  among  the  members 
of  boards  of  aldermen,  state  legislatures  and  other  sub- 
ordinate public  bodies ;  but  these  differences  have  noth- 
ing whatever  to  do  with  the  bond  of  membership  or 
the  responsibility  for  sharing  in  the  deliberations  of 
members  of  these  bodies,  any  more  than  they  have  in 
the  sharing  of  their  voting. 

And,  just  as  there  are  among  the  citizens  of  every 
neighborhood,  some  impatient  idealists  and  some  cau- 
tious conservatives,  some  men  who  hold  one  sort  of 


24  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

view  on  political  matters,  and  some  who  hold  another, 
so  among  the  members  of  every  board  of  aldermen, 
every  state  legislature,  and  every  other  subordinate 
public  body,  there  are  men  who  differ  radically  in  their 
opinion  on  public  or  political  matters.  But,  instead  of 
this  variety  of  viewpoint  being  a  reason  for  division  and 
separation,  this  difference  of  interpretation  of  common 
problems  is  the  best  possible  reason  for  organization  into 
single  discussion  bodies,  which  include  in  their  member- 
ship those  who  differ,  that  the  questions  to  be  voted  on 
may  be  considered  from  every  side. 

The  proposal,  which  goes  to  the  heart  of  our  whole 
American  problem,  that  the  citizenship,  which  is  now 
coordinated  for  decision  upon  public  questions,  shall 
organize  for  such  orderly  deliberation  upon  public  ques- 
tions as  intelligent  decision  presupposes,  is  merely  the 
proposal  that  the  membership  of  the  supreme  and  fun- 
damental public  body  do  what  every  subordinate  public 
body  now  does. 

The  procedure  is  perfectly  simple.  It  is  exactly  the 
same  as  the  procedure  whereby  the  members  of  every 
minor  body  secure  the  benefits  of  organized  deliberative 
opportunity.  Just  as  the  aldermen  assemble  in  the 
building  where  they  are  to  vote,  and  there  form  a  par- 
liamentary, that  is,  a  discussion  organization  which  in- 
cludes all  of  the  aldermen  as  members,  and  just  as  they 
draft  by-laws  and  rules  of  procedure  and  select  officers, 
that  their  deliberations  may  be  regular,  so  the  citizens 
within  any  precinct  assemble  in  their  voting  headquar- 
ters, the  schoolhouse,  and  there  form  a  deliberative  or- 
ganization which  includes  all  of  the  ci<  zens  in  the  dis- 
trict as  members,  and  by  the  adoption  of  a  constitution 
and  the  selection  of  officers  assure  orderly  procedure. 

Of  course,  in  the  average  neighborhood,  not  all  the 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  25 

citizens  will  participate  in  the  formation  of  this  citizens' 
common  council,  just  as  not  all  citizens  participate  in 
voting,  just  as,  indeed,  not  all  of  the  aldermen  or  con- 
gressmen attend  all  of  the  deliberative  sessions  of  their 
assemblies,  but  whether  he  attends  or  not,  every  neigh- 
boring voter  is  an  active  member.  And,  of  course,  there 
are  no  dues,  any  more  than  there  are  dues  for  the  alder- 
men to  pay  for  the  privilege  and  duty  of  gathering  in 
aldermanic  counsel.  The  members  of  every  neighbor- 
hood association  of  citizens  paid  their  dues  when  they 
paid  their  taxes,  whether  directly  or  through  the  agency 
of  a  landlord. 

The  right  of  the  citizens  in  any  district  to  the  use  of 
their  neighborhood  building  for  orderly  and  free  dis- 
cussion of  public  questions,  just  as  they  now  use  it  (or 
some  other  place  provided  at  public  expense)  for  de- 
cision on  public  questions,  is  not  likely  to  be  questioned 
when  the  character  of  this  organization  is  understood. 
In  most  cases,  where  that  body  which  is  charged  with 
conducting  the  form  of  public  service  which  occupies 
these  buildings  during  a  part  of  the  time,  the  school 
board,  has  opposed  their  use  for  adult  meetings,  the 
school  board  has  been  entirely  right  in  its  position  and 
faithful  to  its  trust  of  looking  after  the  public  interest, 
for  the  applications  which  have  come  to  the  school  board 
were  to  have  these  public  buildings  made  available  for 
use  under  the  auspices  of  private  organizations  of  vari- 
ous sorts.  The  members  of  a  school  board  would  not 
have  a  keen  perception  of  their  duty  to  the  community 
if  they  did  not  oppose  the  use  of  a  community  building 
by  any  other  th'in  a  community  body.  But  where  the 
organization  that  is  formed  includes  as  its  membership 
the  whole  citizenship  of  the  neighborhood,  that  is,  where 
the  present  neighborhood  organization  for  voting  consti- 


26  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

tutes  itself  an  organization  for  deliberation,  there  only  a 
school  committee  which  has  not  yet  gained  any  concep- 
tion of  democracy  will  honestly  oppose  the  use  of  the 
schoolhouse  as  headquarters  for  such  association. 

Among  the  many  communities  in  Wisconsin  in  which, 
during  the  season  of  1910-1911,  application  was  made  to 
school  boards  for  the  use  of  the  public  school  building  as 
a  meeting  place  for  the  citizens  organized  into  an  all- 
inclusive  neighborhood  association,  only  two  boards  re- 
fused the  request.  The  reason  in  one  case  was  that  one 
of  the  questions  which  the  citizens  desired  to  take  up 
was  the  proposed  adoption  of  the  commission  form  of 
government  for  their  city.  It  happened  that  a  member 
of  the  board  of  education  was  the  brother  of  an  alder- 
man. He  did  not  wish  to  facilitate  discussion  of  a 
plan  which  might  relieve  his  brother  of  that  opportunity 
for  service.  In  the  other  case  the  opposition  came  in- 
directly through  the  school  board  from  one  of  the  private 
interests  in  the  town  whose  life  depended  on  the  citizens 
not  having  wholesome  assembly  places.  Upon  learning 
the  character  of  the  opposition  in  these  two  cases,  the 
1910-1911  session  of  the  state  legislature  stated  in  law  the 
right  of  the  citizens  to  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  in  any 
district  as  headquarters  for  the  neighborhood  organiza- 
tion of  the  electorate ;  and  it  was  declared  that  where  the 
citizenship  of  any  community  is  organized  for  the  use 
of  this  building  as  a  community  meeting  place  for  the 
open  presentation  and  free  discussion  of  public  ques- 
tions, there  the  committee  in  charge  of  this  public  prop- 
erty shall  make  provision  for  the  free,  gratuitous  and 
convenient  use  of  the  building  for  this  purpose. 

It  is  significant  of  the  normal  attitude  of  school  men 
toward  this  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  the  neighborhood 
political  headquarters,  both  for  voting  and  for  the  all- 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  27 

sided  free  discussion  of  public  questions,  that  the  man 
who  introduced  the  bill  which  declared  the  right  of  the 
citizens  to  this  use  of  their  property  was  an  old  school 
man,  that  the  committee  to  which  the  bill  was  referred 
in  each  house  and  whose  endorsement  caused  its  pas- 
sage without  opposition,  was  largely  made  up  of  school 
board  members,  and  that  the  state  governor  whose  sig- 
nature made  the  bill  a  law  was  a  former  school  prin- 
cipal. 

As  to  the  detail  of  equipment  of  any  school  building 
for  this  deliberative  assembling  of  the  neighboring  citi- 
zens, the  complete  answer  is,  as  in  the  use  of  the  build- 
ing for  voting,  in  the  plan  of  having  a  "community 
room",  a  combination  of  assembly  hall  and  gymnasium 
on  the  ground  floor,  reachable  directly  from  -the  street 
or  road,  and  fitted  with  comfortable,  adult  size  seats. 
But,  where  such  a  community  room  or  neighborhood 
hall  is  not  yet  constructed  as  a  part  of  the  school  plant, 
the  kindergarten  room,  where  there  is  one,  is  suitable 
for  this  use.  If  there  is  no  room  on  the  ground  floor, 
which  is  without  desks,  the  plan  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  of  placing  the  little  desks  in  any  first- 
floor  room  on  "skids",  thin  strips  of  hard  wood,  so 
that  they  can  be  moved  easily,  and  putting  chairs  in 
their  places,  makes  possible  a  satisfactory  place  of  meet- 
ing. Obviously,  as  most  of  the  meetings  of  the  neigh- 
borhood citizens'  association  or  civic  club  will  be  held  in 
the  evening,  where  the  teacher's  request  for  the  installa- 
tion of  lighting  has  not  already  been  granted,  this  need 
must  be  met. 

But,  of  course,  the  mere  opening  of  the  building,  even 
though  the  equipment  be  perfect  and  the  lighting,  heat- 
ing and  janitor  service  be  all -arranged  for,  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  assure,  or,  indeed,  to  make  possible  in  the  average 


28  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

community  the  effective  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  the 
center  of  the  neighborhood  deliberative  organization  of 
the  citizenship. 

In  the  case  of  the  aldermen,  it  is  not  merely  the 
opening  of  the  city  hall  for  their  use  which  is  provided. 
There  is  also  furnished,  as  a  matter  of  course,  and  at 
public  expense,  the  service  of  a  clerk  or  secretary.  One 
can  scarcely  imagine  the  aldermen,  or  the  members  of 
the  state  legislature,  or  national  congressmen,  providing 
their  own  secretarial  or  clerical  service.  They  and 
every  other  subordinate  public  body  have  provided  for 
them  the  service  of  a  man  or  a  staff  of  men  who  look 
after  dockets,  reports,  and  other  secretarial  details  of 
their  meeting. 

If  one  would  not  expect  that  these  men,  who  are  set. 
apart,  selected  as  those  especially  interested  in  public 
business,  would  take  care  of  arranging  for  the  bother- 
some details  of  their  meeting,  it  certainly  would  not  be 
expectable  that  the  neighborhood  body  of  the  citizens, 
each  of  whom  has  his  private  business  to  attend  t9,  and 
none  of  whom  is  selected  as  a  man  particularly  interested 
in  public  matters,  should  provide  their  own  secretarial 
service.  To  be  sure,  it  is  a  fact  that,  so  remarkable  is 
our  developing  sense  of  community  spirit  and  neighbor- 
hood interest,  that  there  are  many  places  where  the 
schoolhouses  are  now  used  as  citizenship  assembly  cham- 
bers, where  the  secretarial  service  of  preparing  pro- 
grams, securing  speakers  whom  the  organization  wants 
to  hear,  and  looking  after  the  preliminary  and  reporting 
publicity,  is  done  by  volunteers,  or  by  the  school  princi- 
pal without  extra  remuneration.  But  this  is  distinctly 
public  service,  and  should  be  rendered  in  every  com- 
munity by  a  public  servant  equipped  and  paid  as  a  neigh- 
borhood civic  secretary. 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  29 

This  is  not  entirely  a  new  profession,  but  is  rather 
the  extension  of  the  neighborhood  secretarial  service, 
which  is  now  rendered  at  public  expense.  In  the  work 
of  the  neighborhood  or  precinct  election  clerk,  secre- 
tarial service  for  the  neighborhood  organization  of  the 
electorate  is  now  publicly  furnished  for  the  voting  of 
the  citizens.  When  to  the  neighborhood  civic  function 
of  gathering  to  vote  is  added  the  neighborhood  civic 
function  of  assembling  to  deliberate,  then  the  service  of 
the  neighborhood  clerk  is  simply  changed  from  being 
temporary  and  occasional  to  being  continuous.  It  is 
exactly  as  though  the  aldermen  had  been  gathering  only 
to  vote  on  the  municipal  business  for  which  they  are  re- 
sponsible, having  for  their  voting  a  publicly  hired  clerk, 
and  it  now  being  decided  that,  for  their  intelligent  vot- 
ing, they  should  first  assemble  for  orderly  deliberation, 
their  secretary  were  now  to  be  employed  continuously 
for  their  deliberation,  instead  of  only  occasionally  for 
their  decisions. 

But,  in  the  fact  that  the  secretarial  service  of  the 
neighborhood  organization  of  the  electorate  is  made 
continuous,  this  position  is  obviously  very  greatly  mag- 
nified in  importance,  and  the  demand  is  created  for 
qualities  broader,  if  not  higher,  than  those  required  in 
the  election  clerk,  the  temporary  neighborhood  civic  sec- 
retary, now  employed.  This  amounts  practically  to  the 
establishment  of  a  new  profession.  Where  shall  the 
person  be  found  to  serve  the  neighborhood  organization 
of  the  electorate  as  secretary,  not  only  for  the  occasional 
voting  of  this  body,  but  for  the  frequent  meetings  of  its 
members  for  the  presentation  and  discussion  of  public 
questions  ? 

There  will  be  exceptions,  of  course ;  but  the  ideal  and 
normal  answer  to  this  question  is :  not  in  the  engagement 


30  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  a  new  neighborhood  public  servant,  but  in  the  addi- 
tion of  this  requirement  to  the  service  rendered  by  the 
most  important  neighborhood  servant  now  engaged. 
That  is,  the  service  of  a  neighborhood  civic  secretary 
should  be  required  of  the  school  principal,  and  this 
community  servant  or  official  should,  of  course,  be  paid 
proportionately  more  for  assuming  the  responsibilities 
of  this  office  in  addition  to  those  which  he  or  she  now 
carries. 

The  reasons  for  adding  the  work  of  secretary  to  the 
neighborhood  organization  of  the  electorate  to  the  pres- 
ent work  of  the  school  principal,  instead  of  engaging 
another  person  for  this  position,  are  apparent.  There 
is  no  more  important  and  pressing  question  in  the  whole 
educational  problem  than  that  of  securing  as  school  prin- 
cipal, for  the  sake  of  the  children's  efficient  education, 
the  highest  type  of  man  or  woman  who  can  be  found. 
And,  obviously,  the  importance  of  having  highly  quali- 
fied men  and  women  for  this  position  is  of  interest,  not 
only  to  those  who  send  their  children  to  the  public 
school,  but  to  the  whole  community,  whose  future  com- 
mon welfare  is  bound  up  in  the  training  which  these 
children  receive. 

The  question  of  securing  a  better  type  of  school  prin- 
cipal is  in  part  a  question  of  increasing  the  salary  at- 
tached to  this  profession.  Require  that  the  school  prin- 
cipal shall  be  at  the  service  of  the  neighborhood  organi- 
zation of  the  electorate,  as  clerk  of  elections  and  as  sec- 
retary of  the  organization's  deliberative  assemblies;  re- 
quire that  the  school  principal  shall  do  the  detail  work 
of  securing  such  speakers  on  public  topics  as  the  organi- 
zation desires  to  hear,  of  looking  after  the  notification 
to  members  of  what  has  occurred  and  what  is  planned 
in  the  business  of  the  organization,  and  the  increased 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  31 

remuneration  for  this  increased  service  will  tend  very 
strongly  to  assure  the  engagement  in  this  position  of 
a  higher  and  more  efficient  type  of  public  servant. 

But,  practically  important  as  is  the  matter  of  in- 
creasing the  salary  and  so  elevating  the  standard  of 
this  profession,  it  is  the  least  important  way  in  which 
the  addition  of  the  work  of  neighborhood  civic  secretary 
to  that  of  school  principal  will  tend  to  improve  this 
most  important  branch  of  the  public  service.  The  fact 
is  that  in  many  a  public  school  the  principalship  is  now 
occupied  by  a  person  who  has  capacities  for  large  and 
efficient  service,  but  who  is  at  present  loaded  down  with 
a  lot  of  petty  detail  school  work  which  should  be  done 
by  an  assistant.  The  requirement  upon  the  time  of  the 
school  principal  in  serving  as  secretary  of  the  neigh- 
borhood organization  of  the  electorate  necessitates  re- 
lieving him  of  much  of  this  detail  work,  and  would  so 
set  free,  in  channels  of  expression  requiring  higher  ca- 
pacities, energy  which  is  now  spent  in  doing  work  which 
should  be  done  by  subordinates. 

The  inclusion  of  civic  secretarial  service  as  a  part  of 
the  work  of  the  school  principal  would  tend  strongly  to 
draw  into  this  service  men  who  are  now  attracted  to 
other  professions,  and  who  have  the  qualities  needed  in 
this  position.  For  instance,  at  the  head  of  many  a  pub- 
lic school  there  is  a  young  man  who  intends  to  occupy 
this  position  only  until  he  can  read  enough  law  to  be 
admitted  to  the  bar,  when  he  plans  to  go  into  that  form 
of  service,  which  offers  opportunity  for  dealing  directly 
with  adults  instead  of  only  with  children.  There  are 
several  instances  of  such  men  who  have  recently  changed 
their  plan  and  decided  to  remain  in  their  present  posi- 
tions, because  they  now  see  the  possibility  of  rendering 
as  civic  secretaries  just  the  sort  of  service  to  society 


32  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

which  the  lawyer  is  supposed  to  render  in  helping  to 
harmonize  the  discords  and  set  the  dislocations  in  the 
relations  of  men  together.  They  see  that  the  position 
of  civic  secretary  means,  among  other  things,  the  posi- 
tion of  what  might  be  called  school  district  attorney, 
or  neighborhood  corporation  counsel.  Or  again,  there 
are  young  men  now  in  this  position  who  intend  to  go 
into  journalism.  The  work  of  the  civic  secretary  added 
to  that  of  school  principal  means  the  opportunity  for  the 
expression  of  all  the  capacities  that  they  have  for  pub- 
licity service,  not  in  the  round-about  working  for  the 
public  through  service  to  a  private  owner  or  corpora- 
tion, but  directly.  Or,  as  is  frequently  the  case,  the 
young  man  may  intend  to  leave  his  position  as  school 
principal  to  go  into  business.  When  he  sees  the  possi- 
bility of  serving  the  citizens  of  the  community  in  their 
capacity  as  stockholders  and  directors  in  the  most  im- 
portant of  all  enterprises,  the  conduct  of  the  common- 
wealth, which  may  include  the  establishment  of  a 
neighborhood  cooperative  creamery  or  laundry  or  store 
(social  center  organization  is  developing  in  this  way  in 
several  instances)  then  all  the  capacities  of  the  potential 
business  manager  are  called  for  in  this  position. 

There  are  now  a  number  of  successful  lawyers,  jour- 
nalists, and  business  men  who  were  once  principals,  and 
who  would  never  have  left  the  public  service  if  that  posi- 
tion had  meant  civic  secretaryship,  with  all  that  this 
office  implies.  It  is  obvious  that  when  the  school  prin- 
cipal is  at  the  same  time  the  secretary  of  the  adult  or- 
ganization of  the  citizenship,  he  is  necessarily  a  better 
school  principal.  When  he  is  also  a  specialized  brother, 
reaching  out  horizontally  in  direct  service  to  the  present 
citizens,  he  is  a  better  specialized  foster  parent  engaged 
in  training  up  the  future  citizens. 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  33 

For  the  present,  the  requirement  of  service  as  a  civic 
secretary  as  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  school  principal 
will  tend  to  result  in  having  men  employed  in  this  pro- 
fession. As  we  move  on,  however,  from  government 
by  a  sex,  toward  democracy,  this  will  not  necessarily  be 
the  case. 

Obviously,  in  this  office  of  civic  secretary  the  school 
principal  is  not  in  authority  over  the  citizenship,  any 
more  than  the  clerk  of  the  board  of  aldermen  is  over 
them  in  authority.  The  citizens  do  not  delegate  their 
authority  over  themselves,  but  only  over  their  children,' 
when  they  engage,  either  directly  or  through  their  board 
committee,  the  school  principal. 

The  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  headquarters  of  civic 
deliberation  implies  the  gathering  there  of  a  civic  refer- 
ence library.  Where  the  subcommittees  of  the  citizen- 
ship meet  for  deliberation,  there  is  established  a  collec- 
tion of  printed  informational  matter  upon  the  questions 
which  they  are  to  consider.  For  instance,  the  national 
subcommittee  have  the  use  of  the  Congressional  library 
and  librarian  service  to  aid  them;  the  state  subcommit- 
tees have  legislative  reference  libraries  and  the  service 
of  librarians,  and  in  practically  every  city  there  is  a 
municipal  reference  library  and  librarian  at  the  service 
of  aldermen  or  commissioners.  These  agents  of  the 
voters  have  access  to  the  newspapers  and  other  private 
sources  of  information,  but  it  is  recognized  that,  in 
order  that  their  deliberations  be  based  on  correct  infor- 
mation, it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  available  for 
their  use  accurate  data,  conveniently  arranged,  upon 
the  questions  which  they  are  to  decide.  So  the  use  of 
the  schoolhouse  as  a  citizens'  deliberative  headquarters 
implies  the  establishment  of  a  civic  reference  library 
there. 


34  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

As  the  schoolhouse  becomes  a  completely  developed 
social  center,  it  will  include,  of  course,  the  installation 
of  a  neighborhood  branch  library  of  a  general  character, 
and  there  will  be,  as  is  now  the  case  in  at  least  some  of 
the  schoolhouses  in  Grand  Rapids,  St.  Louis,  Rochester, 
Minneapolis,  and  other  places,  a  neighborhood  librarian 
continuously  employed.  Where  this  is  the  case,  the  col- 
lected material  upon  public  questions  naturally  becomes 
a  part  of  this  general  library  equipment,  and  its  han- 
dling a  part  of  the  work  of  the  regular  librarian.  Where 
the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  neighborhood  library 
has  not  yet  developed  to  the  point  of  engaging  the  full- 
time  service  of  a  librarian,  the  work  of  collecting  and 
arranging  data  on  public  questions,  so  that  it  will  be 
conveniently  available  for  the  citizens,  is  a  part  of  the 
duty  of  the  school  principal  in  his  office  as  civic  secre- 
tary. 

Now,  the  practical  question  is:  How  shall  school 
principals  gain  the  technical  information  necessary  for 
efficient  service  as  neighborhood  civic  secretaries?  The 
problem  of  having  properly  equipped  men  for  this  serv- 
ice in  the  future  lies  partly  in  the  training  to  be  given 
in  normal  schools,  colleges,  and  universities.  But  how 
about  the  present  school  principals? 

If  the  people  of  a  town  located  beside  the  falls  of  a 
river  whose  power  had  hitherto  gone  to  waste  were  to 
decide  to  take  advantage  as  a  community  of  the  oppor- 
tunity at  hand  in  order  to  supply  for  all,  and  so  for  each, 
the  benefits  in  light  and  power  of  that  community  pos- 
session, the  first  thing  that  they  would  do  would  be  to 
engage  an  engineer,  a  man  technically  informed  upon 
the  method  of  constructing  the  necessary  machinery  to 
develop  that  resource.  Social  center  development  is  the 
construction  of  the  necessary  machinery  whereby  hith- 


DELIBERATION— THEN    DECISION  35 

erto  wasted  civic  and  social  forces  may  be  coordinated 
to  develop  for  all,  and  so  for  each,  benefits  in  light  and 
power.  The  first  thing  that  is  necessary  in  any  city  or 
rural  county,  is  the  engagement  of  a  man  who  may 
be  called  a  social  engineer,  who  is  technically  qualified  to 
advise  as  to  the  methods  found  successful  in  community 
organization  elsewhere,  and  to  cooperate  efficiently  with 
school  principals  in  the  service  of  the  various  neighbor- 
hoods. 

At  the  head  of  every  system  of  schools,  and  every 
rural  county  system  of  schools,  there  is  a  superintendent. 
The  reason  why  this  already  engaged  public  servant 
should  not,  as  a  rule,  be  expected  or  required  to  assume 
direct  responsibility  for  the  orderly  and  systematic  de- 
velopment of  the  wider  use  of  public  school  plants  as 
social  centers  is  not  because  he  is  either  unwilling  or 
incompetent  for  this  service.  It  is  simply  because,  in 
the  case  of  the  city  superintendent,  at  any  rate,  his  hands 
are  already  full.  To  be  sure,  in  a  number  of  cities,  as 
well  as  rural  counties,  the  superintendents  have  person- 
ally given  time  and  energy  to  the  beginning  of  social 
center  development.  But,  it  is  out  of  the  question  to 
expect  this  of  the  superintendent  in  the  average  city. 
The  social  center  is  not  only  a  structure.  It  is  alive. 
Once  organized,  it  grows  rapidly,  and  its  service  in  any 
city  demands  the  full  time  of  a  first-calibre  man. 

It  is  necessary  to  have  for  every  city,  and,  unless  there 
is  an  exceptional  person  employed  in  the  position  of 
county  superintendent,  in  every  rural  county,  a  man 
engaged  specifically  to  assume  responsibility  for  the 
wider  use  of  the  school  property,  from  the  beginning. 
In  most  cities,  this  public  servant  is  engaged  as  an  asso- 
ciate or  assistant  to  the  superintendent  of  schools.  In 
some  places,  Grand  Rapids,  for  instance,  he  is  engaged 


36  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

jointly  by  the  school  board  and  the  park  commission. 
The  reason  for  this  is  that  he  is  charged  with  the  re- 
sponsibility of  serving  the  citizens  in  their  full  use  of 
the  school  buildings  in  the  evenings,  and  also  in  their 
organized  use  of  the  parks  and  other  out-of-door  public 
property  during  the  day  time.  In  several  cities,  the  per- 
son responsible  for  service  as  general  civic  secretary  is 
engaged  under  the  title  of  superintendent  of  recreation, 
and  has  behind  him  a  recreation  commission.  But,  the 
majority  of  cities  in  which  beginnings  have  been  made 
in  this  field,  have  placed  the  work  of  organizing  the  de- 
partment in  the  hands  of  a  man  engaged  as  associate  to 
the  superintendent  of  schools,  and  this  is  perhaps  the 
normal  method. 

The  first  service  of  this  man  is  as  general  civic  secre- 
tary, and  in  the  development  of  the  full  use  of  the 
schoolhouses  in  the  logical  way  by  first  locating  the 
voting  places  in  these  buildings  and  then  aiding  in  the 
establishment  of  their  use  as  neighborhood  headquarters 
of  orderly  deliberation,  it  may  be  expected  that  the 
general  civic  secretary  will  personally  devote  his  time 
to  the  preliminary  work  of  presenting  the  idea  and 
helping  in  the  organization  in  the  various  neighborhoods. 

As  soon  as  comprehensive  deliberative  assemblies  have 
been  formed  in  all  of  the  districts  in  a  city  or  rural 
county,  it  will  be  found  desirable  to  federate  these  dis- 
trict organizations  for  the  cooperation  and  unified  action 
which  such  federation  will  make  possible.  When  this 
is  done,  then  the  general  civic  secretary  becomes  the 
secretary  of  this  league  of  civic  clubs  or  federation  of 
neighborhood  associations. 

Now  such  a  city  or  county-wide  federation  of  bodies 
each  of  which  includes  in  its  membership  all  the  citizens 
of  a  district,  coordinates,  obviously,  the  whole  citizen- 


DELIBERATION— THEN    DECISION  37 

ship  of  the  town  or  rural  county.  Normally,  the  mayor 
of  a  city  should  be  ex-officio  the  presiding  officer  of 
this  deliberative  organization  of  the  whole  citizenship. 
The  mayor  is  now  the  head  of  the  citizenship,  organized 
as  it  is  simply  for  voting.  When  the  citizenship  is  or- 
ganized, not  only  for  voting,  but  also  for  deliberation, 
its  members  are  the  same  citizens,  and  their  city  officials 
should  be  ex-officio  the  officials  of  their  now  vitalized 
association. 

J.  W.  Howes  of  Prescott,  Wisconsin,  was  perhaps  the 
first  mayor  of  a  city  to  realize  the  full  possibilities  of 
identifying  the  mayorship  with  the  active  presidency  of 
an  all-inclusive  deliberative  organization  of  the  citizens. 

In  his  work  as  secretary  of  the  league  of  civic  clubs, 
the  general  civic  secretary  not  only  serves  on  the  oc- 
casion of  league  meetings,  when  either  the  delegates 
from  the  various  clubs  assemble  to  talk  over  matters 
of  common  interest  or  when  these  neighborhood  organi- 
zations come  together  in  general  central  auditorium 
gatherings,  but  he  is  also  in  a  position  to  be  constantly 
at  the  service  of  the  various  neighborhood  civic  secre- 
taries in  suggesting  topics  and  methods. 

It  is  important  that  the  man  who  serves  as  neighbor- 
hood civic  secretary  be  competent,  just  as  it  is  important 
that  the  janitor  who  looks  after  the  arrangements  for 
the  physical  comfort  of  the  assembling  citizens  be  com- 
petent for  his  work;  and  in  order  that  the  beginning 
be  wisely  made,  it  is  most  desirable  that  the  general 
civic  secretary  employed  be  a  man  of  organizing  ca- 
pacity and  social  understanding;  but,  just  as  a  board  of 
aldermen,  or  a  state  legislature  may  be  depended  upon 
to  see  that  its  secretarial  service  is  efficient,  so  after  the 
deliberative  organization  of  the  citizenship  has  become 
active,  it  may  be  depended  upon  to  see  that  its  secretary 
4 


38  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

in  district  or  city  is  qualified  for  the  work  for  which 
he  is  employed. 

The  comprehensive  neighborhood  organization  of  the 
citizenship  for  deliberation  in  Rochester,  came  to  be 
called  the  ciVic  club.  Soon  after  the  beginning  in  that 
city,  Rev.  A.  W.  Gross  said :  "I  come  from  New  Eng- 
land where  the  town  meeting  develops  the  truest  democ- 
racy the  world  has  ever  known.  I  am  interested  in  the 
civic  clubs  because  I  think  their  tendency  is  toward  the 
real  home  rule  of  the  town  meeting.  The  civic  club 
is  designed  to  make  us  realize  the  thing  that  we  are 
most  in  danger  of  forgetting,  that  we  are  the  govern- 
ment." 

This  identity  of  the  spirit  of  this  organization  with 
that  of  this  characteristic  American  expression  of  the 
early  days  was  later  noted  in  the  characterization  of  it 
by  Senator  Robert  M.  LaFollette:  "A  movement  which 
promises  benefits  not  unlike  those  of  the  pure  democ- 
racy of  the  old  New  England  town  meeting." 

There  are  essential  differences  in  method  and  details 
between  the  social  center  and  the  town  meeting.  The 
latter  was  fitted  only  for  the  use  of  large  villages, 
whereas  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  offers  opportunity  for 
democratic  expression  in  the  largest  cities  and  the  open 
country  as  well  as  the  small  town.  Moreover,  the 
town  meeting  practice  contemplated  regular  appointed 
gathering  only  once  or  twice  a  year,  which  is  altogether 
too  infrequent  for  effective  understanding  and  control 
since  the  problems  of  the  public  welfare  have  become 
as  complex  as  they  now  are ;  whereas  the  social  center 
idea  contemplates  weekly  assembling  of  citizens.  More- 
over, the  town  meeting  was  an  institution  for  delibera- 
tion alone,  while  the  social  center  plan  of  fully  using  the 
schoolhouse  means  the  development  there  of  a  center  of 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  39 

recreation,  artistic,  dramatic  and  musical  expression,  a 
local  health  office,  employment  bureau,  and  so  on,  as  well 
as  a  center  of  democratic  expression.^But  while  these 
differences  mark  the  practical  adaptation  of  the  institu- 
tion to  the  present  need,  the  fundamental  spirit  of  the 
social  center  is  exactly  that  of  the  town  meeting. 

It  was  with  this  fact  in  mind  that  Dr.  Charles  Fleis- 
cher of  Boston  said  when  visiting  Rochester:  "After 
visiting  them,  I  say  deliberately :  That  person  or  institu- 
tion that  is  against  social  centers  is  against  America." 

And  it  was  this  fact  which  William  Allen  White  ex- 
pressed in  his  interpretation  of  the  movement  at  the 
First  National  Conference  on  Social  Center  Development : 

A  century  and  a  half  ago  there  was  a  stir  on  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  of  this  continent.  Discontent  and  unrest  were 
abroad.  Men  and  women  were  talking  too  much  to  suit 
those  who  worshipped  the  God  of  things  as  they  are.  The 
agitator,  and  doubtless  the  demagogue,  too,  were  unsettling 
business  and  disturbing  conditions  with  a  number  of  un- 
pleasant theories,  political,  social  and  economic.  The  mob 
was  roused,  or  what  was  called  the  mob.  The  rabble  ap- 
peared, or  what  was  called  the  rabble.  Men  began  to  meet 
and  pass  resolutions.  New  leaders  rose,  those  ordinary  two- 
legged  men  of  no  social  or  financial  consequence,  with  good 
lungs  and  a  gift  of  gab.  And  lo,  they  were  orators.  For 
that  is  all  that  an  orator  is,  the  man  who  voices  the  common 
thought  of  the  common  people.  They  put  into  reality  the 
aspiration  of  their  neighbors,  and  behold  these  common  men 
were  statesmen.  They  fought  and  died  for  the  common 
good  and  they  were  the  national  heroes. 

The  town  hall.  What  a  rude  temple  it  was,  yet  it  was 
God's,  in  working  one  of  his  mysteries.  The  town  hall 
held  the  ark  of  a  great  covenant.  Meeting  and  milling, 
these  men  worked  out  their  social  and  political  salvation. 
It  was  the  town  hall  and  the  spirit  of  freedom  bred  in  the 


40  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

town  hall  that  gave  us  liberty,  not  Yorktown  nor  any  battle. 
It  was  their  political  institutions,  the  spirit  of  the  people, 
that  won  the  battles,  the  battles  did  not  win  the  independ- 
ence. The  battles  for  independence  were  mere  eddies  in 
the  sweeping  current  of  moving  events.  For  independence 
in  America  was  won  before  a  shot  was  fired.  Independence 
was  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  and  cannons  could 
not  shoot  it  out,  any  more  than  cannons  could  shoot  it  in. 
It  is  the  babble  of  fools  to  say  that  God  is  on  the  side  with 
the  best  guns.  Guns  may  kill  men  and  guns  may  win 
battles,  but  in  the  end  guns  are  spiked  by  ideas  and  God  is 
on  the  side  of  the  righteous  cause.  It  was  the  town  hall 
that  defeated  Cornwallis,  and  it  will  be  the  gathering  of 
neighbors  in  the  spirit  of  the  town  meeting  that  will  defeat 
those  who  are  standing  in  the  way  of  democracy  to-day. 
The  men  from  the  town  hall  were  mightier  than  King 
George's  army  and  wiser  than  his  councilors.  They  builded 
better  than  they  knew,  for  they  laid  the  foundation  stones 
of  their  edifice  of  freedom  in  the  common  righteous  vision 
of  the  common  man.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  these 
revolutionary  heroes  of  ours  were  extraordinary  men.  They 
were  just  the  sort  of  folks  we  find  here  to-day,  and  they 
are  living  in  the  prairies  and  hills  and  vales  of  America  now. 
To-day  we  are  turning  a  corner  of  the  most  wonderful 
way  the  world  ever  has  passed.  In  material  progress  hu- 
manity has  never  come  so  far  in  one  hundred  years,  nor  in 
spiritual  development,  as  the  world  has  come  in  this  nine- 
teenth century.  Events  have  literally  whirled  past  the  pro- 
cession of  the  years.  Steam  and  electricity,  those  twin  genii 
of  progress,  have  transformed  the  world,  have  made  over 
men's  minds,  have  witched  the  world  into  something  rich 
and  strange.  During  the  century  past  a  new  social  and 
political  continent  has  risen.  /The  middle  classes  have  taken 
the  world's  scepter  from  the  kings.J  Theirs  is  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  And  these  merchant  princes,  these  captains 
of  industry,  these  (high  cast  Brahmins  of  low  cast  politics 
are  bringing  into  old  habits  of  thought  the  same  arrogance 


DELIBERATION— THEN   DECISION  41 

of  class,  the  same  domineering  insolence  in  their  use  of 
power,  the  same  social,  political  and  economic  Bourbonism 
that  was  the  downfall  of  the  kings.  The  town  hall  shattered 
caste  based  upon  birth.  The  town  hall  gave  men  whatever 
of  liberty  might  come  from  equality  of  political  and  social 
opportunity. 

And  now  we  are  turning  the  corner  into  an  avenue 
of  human  progress  where  we  are  to  struggle  for  more 
liberty,  for  such  liberty  as  will  come  to  men  who  have  equal- 
ity of  economic  and  intellectual  opportunity.  Observe  how 
the  familiar  roadside  features  that  adorned  the  lane  of  prog- 
ress that  was  new  a  century  and  a  half  ago  are  turning  up 
in  this  new  avenue  we  are  just  entering.  Amid  prosperity 
we  have  discontent ;  the  agitator  and  perhaps  the  demagogue, 
too,  are  appearing.  The  people  are  talking  too  much  to  suit 
those  who  worship  the  God  of  things  as  they  are.  Men  are 
following  leaders  who  have  no  standing  with  the  powers 
that  be.  The  people  are  turning  deaf  ears  to  old  arguments 
that  once  moved  them.  Men  are  meeting  and  milling  and 
plotting  mutiny  against  the  established  order. 

But  the  town  hall  is  gone.  Men  meet  in  the  newspaper, 
but  it  is  crowded  with  business.  They  meet  on  the  tele- 
phone, but  that  costs  money.  They  meet  by  telegraph,  but 
their  meetings  are  brief.  They  meet  on  trains,  in  the  air 
and  upon  the  street,  but  always  they  are  in  a  hurry.  There 
is  need  of  a  town  hall.  Democracy  has  a  heart.  Aspiration 
is  deep  and  vital  in  our  souls.  But  democracy  needs  a  head. 
It  must  have  wisdom.  And  what  the  town  hall  was  to  New 
England  the  schoolhouse  must  be  to-day.  We  are  in  con- 
fusion. Our  discontent  is  not  organized.  Our  visions  are 
not  strongly  and  surely  defined.  This  confusion  and  uncer- 
tainty are  typical  of  all  great  movements  in  history.  For 
prophets  feel,  they  do  not  see.  It  is  the  people  who  see. 
It  is  they  who  construct.  The  wisdom  of  the  common 
mind  is  the  strength  of  every  political  abiding  place.  And 
in  this  new  temple  we  are  building  there  must  be  an  ark  of 
the  covenant.  There  must  be  some  place  to  which  we  may 


42  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

turn  as  a  nation  for  meditation  and  communion,  some  com- 
mon ground  where  we  may  stand  and,  finding  our  common 
mind,  speak  it  in  the  common  voice.  For  there  is  a  wisdom 
deeper  than  that  written  in  any  books.  The  common  mind 
has  the  wisdom  of  all  books.  The  common  mind  is  kinder 
than  any  heart,  however  tender,  for  therein  is  the  charity 
of  all  hearts.  The  common  mind  holds  a  courage  firmer 
than  any  man's  courage,  for  therein  is  the  courage  of  com- 
rades, the  deepest  courage  men  know.  And  when  this  com- 
mon mind  of  our  people  has  found  itself,  has  clarified  its 
vision,  has  come  into  its  sure  voice,  then  it  will  build  its 
vision  into  life. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  VOTERS'  LEAGUE 

The  use  of  the  schoolhouse  in  every  neighborhood  as 
the  headquarters  of  the  all-inclusive  district  organiza- 
tion of  the  electorate,  for  such  orderly  deliberation  as 
voting,  if  it  is  to  be  intelligent,  furnishes  the  con- 
venient and  practical  means  whereby  the  whole  together- 
business  of  politics  may  be  simplified  and  rational- 
ized. 

For  the  neighborhood,  town,  county,  state,  nation, — 
this  means  making  conscious,  alive,  effective,  the  single 
Voters'  League,  which  is  now  united  in  the  common 
membership  of  responsibility  focused  in  the  ballot-box 
in  each  district. 

When  the  chosen  agents  of  the  citizenship  have  dem- 
onstrated by  their  administration  of  the  business  put 
into  their  hands,  that  snap- judgment,  touch-and-go,  vote- 
'em-straight  selections  are  likely  to  be  poor,  or  that  only 
the  exceptional  employee  can  prove  faithful  when  the 
company  that  employs  him  goes  out  of  existence  as  a 
company  immediately  after  his  appointment,  or  that 
only  a  miraculously  endowed  seer  can  tell  what  the 
people  want  when  they  never  get  together  so  that  their 
agents  can  talk  things  over  with  them,  then  in  the 
average  community  a  group  of  volunteers  forms  what 
they  call  the  voters'  league. 

These  men  use  up  some  energy  in  forming  an  organi- 

43 


44  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

zation  and  persuading  people  to  join  and  some  more  in 
raising  funds  to  secure  a  headquarters  and  a  secretary 
who  will  give  his  time  to  the  work.  If  they  have  any 
left,  it  is  devoted  to  the  attempt  to  make  the  public's 
servants  do  something  that  they  are  neglecting  or  stop 
something  that  they  are  doing. 

In  their  efforts  to  make  the  people's  servants  con- 
form to  their  standard,  they  are  under  the  bad  handi- 
cap of  being  regarded  as  interferers,  which  they  are. 
They  are  not  the  people.  They  are  not  the  duly  author- 
ized representatives  of  the  people.  To  the  public  officials, 
they  are  likely  to  appear  as  an  organization  of  rivals, 
who  would  dislodge  the  present  incumbents  of  office  in 
order  to  get  themselves  or  their  friends  into  office. 

In  its  efforts  to  reform  the  administration,  such  a 
volunteer  private  group,  calling  itself  the  voters'  league 
may  assume  the  extremely  disagreeable  function  of  pros- 
ecutor and  hound  some  of  the  officials  into  jail.  But 
the  final  object  of  the  league's  work  is  to  get  the  facts 
to  the  people  who  have  the  votes.  In  this  attempt,  the 
league  is  handicapped  by  the  fact  that  there  is  no  con- 
venient means  available  for  reaching  the  people. 

The  league  may,  and  in  a  number  of  communities  such 
an  organization  does,  publish  bulletins  or  leaflets  for 
distribution,  which  are  usually  read  only  by  the  mem- 
bers of  the  league. 

In  its  "campaign  of  education"  of  the  voters  the  great 
fact  which  every  such  organization  seeks  to  emphasize  is 
that  the  selection  of  public  servants  by  empty  party  em- 
blems or  designations  is  absurd,  that  the  public  official  is 
a  hired  man  to  be  chosen  on  his  fitness  for  the  work 
he  is  to  do,  and  that  the  party  method  of  division  as  a 
means  to  this  selection  is  unintelligent. 

Frequently  there  are  in  the  same  town  two  or  more 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  45 

volunteer  organizations  having  reform  in  administration 
of  the  public  business  as  their  aim.  One  may  call  itself 
a  voters'  league,  one  a  taxpayers'  association,  one  a 
citizens'  association.  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  there 
being  a  dozen  such  bodies  formed,  competing,  each 
with  its  particular  complaint  and  proposal.  Sometimes 
there  are  two  or  more  of  these  private  organizations 
which  divide  the  various  officials  among  them,  each 
taking  a  group.  For  instance,  in  one  city,  there  is  a 
band  of  men  who  call  themselves  the  municipal  voters' 
league.  These  men  have  charge  of  the  city  officers. 
There  is  also  a  legislative  voters'  league  to  look  after 
state  officers.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  other  officers 
should  be  slighted.  It  would  be  perfectly  logical  to 
have  also  a  county  voters'  league,  a  gubernatorial  voters' 
league,  a  congressional  voters'  league  and  a  presidential 
voters'  league.  If  this  were  done  and  each  organiza- 
tion had  a  separate  headquarters  with  separate  branch 
meeting  places  and  separate  dues  to  pay,  and  if  it  were 
a  man's  duty  to  join  private  organizations  to  fulfill  his 
service  as  a  citizen,  then  a  man  would  have  to  be  a 
member  of  all  of  these  organizations,  for  he  has  equal 
responsibility  in  all  these  fields,  and  no  one  man  who  is 
not  triplets  equipped  with  motor  cycles  and  money  could 
be  a  completely  good  citizen.  He  would  not  have  time. 

These  private  organizations  which  call  themselves 
voters'  leagues  are,  as  a  rule,  made  up  of  splendid  men, 
men  of  ideals,  unselfish  men  surcharged  with  the  zeal 
of  promoting  the  common  good.  To  be  sure,  they  are 
almost  invariably  men  of  a  certain  puritan  type,  stern, 
uncompromising,  rather  lacking  in  a  sense  of  humor,  not 
widely  representative  of  the  whole  community. 

Sometimes  they  are  men  who  look  no  deeper  than 
the  symptoms  and  never  seek  to  get  down  to  the  root 


46  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  the  disease,  the  cause  of  the  maladministration  of 
public  business.  **A.  Leo  Weil,  president  of  the  Pittsburg 
voters'  league  and  one  of  the  most  devoted  of  these 
volunteer  mentors  of  the  public  service,  is  not  one  of 
the  superficial  sort.  He  goes  to  the  root  of  the  trouble. 
In  summing  up  his  long  experience  in  trailing  the  citi- 
zens of  that  city  who  happened  to  be  chosen  by  their 
neighbors  as  members  of  subcommittees  on  municipal 
business,  he  says:  "The  indictment  of  grafters  is  the 
indictment  of  the  community."  Then  he  points  to  the 
trouble  in  the  lack  of  united  and  continued  participation 
of  the  whole  citizenship  in  the  common  enterprise :  "With 
the  increase  of  official  business  there  has  come  to  the  indi^ 
vidual  a  decrease  in  the  opportunity  to  participate,  either 
by  the  expression  of  his  will  or  of  his  opinion,  notwith- 
standing the  greater  necessity  for  such  expression/' 
That  this  same  fault  lies  at  the  basis  of  maladministra- 
tion in  the  wider  reaches  of  state  and  national  affairs 
is  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Frederick  A.  Cleveland  of  the 
Federal  Commission  on  Economy  and  Efficiency.  He 
takes  account  of  the  official  incompetence  which  is  ex- 
pectable when  the  selections  are  made  as  they  now  are; 
then  he  says :  "The  government  has  suffered  more  from 
citizen  neglect  than  it  has  from  official  incompetence." 
It  may  be  that  the  student  of  public  administration 
in  America  has  not  gone  far  enough  in  his  investiga- 
tion to  arrive  at  the  point  of  yiew  of  Lincoln  Steffens 
which  causes  him  to  say:  "I  have  successively  pinned 
my  faith  to  three  hopes  of  salvation  for  the  city.  First, 
hope  in  salvation  through  one  good  man,  a  man  exerting 
such  an  influence  for  righteousness  as  would  galvanize 
the  whole  municipality  into  righteous  life.  But  I  saw 
that  good  men  die  and  that  their  ideals  do  not  live 
after  them.  Then  I  thought  that  salvation  would  come 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  47 

through  all  the  good  people  banding  together  and  fighting 
shoulder  to  shoulder.  But  I  found  that  if  wouldn't  work. 
The  hypocrisy  that  permeates  the  ranks  of  those  whom 
it  is  conventional  to  call  the  good  people  always  works 
disaster  to  such  movements.  Lastly  I  have  come  to  hope 
in  all  the  people  getting  together.  I  am  convinced  that 
it  is  the  only  way.  The  so-called  good  people  and  the 
so-called  bad  people  must  get  upon  common  ground  for 
the  common  good.  Deacons  and  saloon  keepers,  min- 
isters and  brewers  must  get  together,  get  acquainted  and 
talk  things  over." 

Whether  the  man  who  decently  rebels  against  public 
inefficiency  or  betrayal  has  thought  farther  than  the 
something-must-be-done  stage  or  not,  several  very  sim- 
ple facts  should  be  apparent. 

When  the  whole  citizenship  of  a  town  or  city  which 
is  now  organized  into  neighborhood  associations  for 
voting,  organizes  also  for  deliberation,  then  and  then  only 
is  the  league  of  the  voters  formed.  A  few  voters  may 
get  together  and  form  a  voters'  league,  but  the  voters' 
league  must  include  the  voters,  not  a  few,  but  all  of 
them. 

When  this  all-inclusive  organization  is  established,  with 
the  schoolhouses  as  meeting  places  for  talking  over 
public  business,  then  the  cost  of  hiring  headquarters  is 
eliminated,  for  this  league  already  owns  city  and  district 
headquarters. 

Where  the  citizens  are  reasonably  equipped  for  delib- 
eration, with  the  service  of  a  general  secretary  of  the 
city-wide  federation  of  neighborhood  bodies,  and  the 
service  of  a  civic  secretary  in  each  district,  there  is 
no  question  of  hiring  secretaries,  for  they  are  on  the 
job. 

There   is   no   labor  of   securing  members,    for   each 


48  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

voter  in  each  district  is  a  member  of  his  community 
organization  and  so  a  member  of  the  city  association. 

There  is  no  danger  of  conflict  between  various  or- 
ganizations, for  this  body  is  at  once  a  voters'  league,  a 
tax  payers'  association  and  a  citizens'  association,  and  its 
membership  is  equally  interested  in  and  equally  respon- 
sible for  efficiency  in  local,  state  and  national  business. 

The  cost  of  publicity  in  reaching  the  citizens  is  taken 
care  of,  for  they  are  gathering  at  easily  accessible  and 
convenient  meeting  places,  and  each  of  these  has  its  civic 
reference  library  with  its  charts  and  bulletins  where 
facts  may  be  displayed. 

When  this  voters'  league  speaks  to  the  public  officials 
either  in  encouragement  or  reproof  or  in  request  for 
explanations,  it  is  not  the  voice  of  an  interferer,  but 
of  the  employer. 

When  the  citizen  participates  in  the  activities  of  this 
league,  he  is  not  laying  himself  open  to  the  charge  of 
being  a  presumptuous  busybody,  but  is  simply  having 
his  equal  share  in  the  common  enterprise. 

And  finally,  when  election  time  comes  round,  this 
voters'  league  is  not  contradicting,  but  is  putting  into 
practice  the  teachings  of  all  private  and  volunteer  voters' 
leagues,  that  the  selection  of  public  servants  should 
be  made  through  discussion  of  the  merits  of  men  with- 
out preliminary  party  division. 

The  use  of  the  term  voters'  league  in  describing  the 
organization  of  the  citizenship  for  deliberation,  with 
the  schoolhouses  as  meeting  centers,  suggests  that  such 
an  organization  would  have  a  slant  or  bias  toward  po- 
litical "reform."  Obviously,  when  one  considers  that 
this  body  includes  all  the  citizens,  the  defendents  of 
things  as  they  are  as  well  as  the  proposers  of  change,  and 
that  they  belong  on  an  equal  footing,  and  have  equal 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  49 

opportunity  to  present  their  views,  it  will  be  seen  that 
this  organization  is  free  from  any  sectional  slant  or  bias. 

As  to  the  first  of  the  two  prime  aims  which  so-called 
voters'  leagues  or  volunteer  political  reform  organiza- 
tions have,  the  influencing  of  public  officials  now  in  office 
so  that  they  will  render  honest,  efficient  and  faithful 
service : 

Without  considering  here  the  improvement  of  the 
type  of  men  selected  for  official  positions  which  the 
comprehensive  organization  of  the  citizenship  will  tend 
to  assure,  and  taking  the  men  who  are  now  in  office 
of  every  kind,  local,  state,  national,  it  may  safely  be 
said  that  dishonest  officials  would  come  to  act  hon- 
estly, weak  officials  would  be  strengthened,  and  every 
official  would  better  and  more  faithfully  represent  the 
people  whom  he  is  supposed  to  serve,  if  the  citizenship 
were  so  organized,  so  mobilized  as  to  give  to  the  weak 
or  potentially  dishonest  public  official  the  beneficent 
watchfulness  of  an  alert,  focused  public  observation, 
and  to  every  official  a  chance  to  talk  over  with  citizens 
together  the  public  business  in  which  they  have  engaged 
him. 

The  difference  between  the  method  and  spirit  in  deal- 
ing with  public  officials,  of  the  voters'  league  which  is 
composed  of  the  whole  citizenship  and  that  of  the  private 
volunteer  group  of  reformers,  who  call  themselves  a 
voters'  league,  is  fundamental  and  absolute.  The  private 
group  gets  into  action  only  after  evil  conditions  have 
developed.  The  public  body  is  at  hand  from  the  start. 
The  private  organization  by  its  very  being  assumes 
the  crookedness  of  the  officials.  The  public  organiza- 
tion makes  no  such  assumption.  The  private  body 
comes  to  make  the  officials  be  good.  The  perfectly 
natural  reaction  from  such  treatment  is  to  rouse  all  the 


50  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

potential  cussedness  of  the  officials,  whether  in  the  spirit 
of  humor,  or  as  the  natural  inclination  to  give  men 
who  come  with  such  an  object  something  to  do.  Treat 
a  man  like  a  crook  and  if  he  is  not  one,  he  will  probably 
adjust  himself  to  accommodate,  by  becoming  one.  The 
common,  comprehensive  organization  of  the  whole  elec- 
torate does  not  seek  to  make  the  officials  be  good ;  it 
furnishes  conditions  under  which  a  man  in  office  may 
reasonably  be  expected  to  be  faithful  to  the  public  in- 
terest. 

Judge  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  who  has  had  as  long  and  as 
heroic  experience  as  any  man  in  the  world  in  trying  to 
make  public  officials  be  honest,  efficient  and  faithful 
through  the  militant  methods  of  private  reform  organi- 
zation, states  in  a  sentence  the  difference  between  the 
effectiveness  of  that  method  and  the  result  of  all-in- 
clusive civic  organization.  He  says :  "We  have  been 
fighting  the  beast.  You  are  making  the  dirty  animal 
impossible." 

Of  all  the  heartening  results  that  have  come  from 
the  uniting  of  citizens  on  the  common  ground  of  the 
common  interest,  as  members  together  of  neighborhood 
deliberative  bodies  of  the  electorate,  none  has  been 
more  invariably  demonstrated  than  the  appreciative  wel- 
come of  this  organization  by  public  officials,  and  the 
value  to  the  citizenship  through  the  tendency  of  this 
organization  to  bring  out  the  best  that  there  is  in  these 
chosen  public  servants.  The  attitude  of  the  public  officials 
toward  this  establishment  of  citizenship  counsels  may  be 
shown,  and  the  effect  upon  public  officials  of  this  reali- 
zation of  a  conscious,  all-inclusive  voters'  league,  may 
be  suggested  by  quoting  the  words  of  public  servants 
of  various  ranks,  in  communities  where  such  organi- 
zation has  begun  to  be  established. 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  51 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  first  neighborhood  body 
of  the  electorate  using  the  schoolhouse  as  headquarters 
for  deliberation  in  Rochester,  New  York,  the  speaker  was 
Alderman  Frank  Ward.  The  question  which  this  neigh- 
borhood voters'  league  or  civic  club,  as  it  called  itself, 
had  decided  to  take  up  was  the  advantage  of  the  com- 
mission plan  of  city  government.  The  spirit  of  the 
organization  was  shown  in  the  method  followed.  In 
order  to  get  at  the  facts,  it  was  decided  to  call  first  upon 
a  man  who  could  tell  the  advantages  of  the  existing 
ward  representation.  The  alderman  was  invited  to 
speak  on  the  duties  of  an  alderman.  After  he  had 
spoken  for  forty-five  minutes  there  was  an  hour's  or- 
derly, but  free  and  frank  discussion  of  the  question 
from  the  floor.  At  its  close  he  was  given  time  to  sum 
up  and  answer  questions.  The  assembly  then  voted  him 
thanks.  The  response  of  the  alderman  was  in  these 
words :  "You  have  given  me  a  vote  of  thanks.  I 
want  to  give  you  a  vote  of  thanks,  and  mine  is  also 
unanimous.  If  every  member  of  the  common  council 
and  every  other  public  servant  had  frequently  such  op- 
portunities as  this  to  come  before  the  people  whom  he 
is  supposed  to  represent,  and  discuss  with  them  the  things 
in  which  he  is  supposed  to  represent  them  it  would  mean 
that  we  would  have  a  better  representation  of  the  people's 
interest  and  a  more  intelligent  government." 

Any  one  familiar  with  the  situation  in  Rochester  knows 
that  Alderman  Ward,  who  has  been  for  several  years 
the  chairman  of  the  finance  committee  of  the  council, 
is  not  of  the  "reformer"  type,  but  an  extremely  con- 
servative Republican.  He  is  one  of  the  men  who  are 
supposed  to  owe  allegiance  to  a  "boss"  of  Monroe 
County,  and  this  proof  that  the  "machine"  official  would 
be  delighted  to  transfer  his  allegiance  to  the  citizen- 


52  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

ship  when  the  citizenship  was  organized  so  that  there 
was  something  tangible  to  transfer  allegiance  to,  throws 
light  upon  the  reason  why  there  developed  intense 
hatred  of  this  organization  on  the  part  of  the  man 
who  had  volunteered  to  assume  charge  of  the  public 
officers  and  their  actions  in  Rochester.  "If  you  want 
to  find  out  who's  boss  around  here,  start  something." 
The  citizens  started  something  when  they  began  the 
organization  of  a  real  voters'  league.  The  contest  as 
to  who  is  really  boss  of  Rochester  is  still  going  on.  It 
is  recounted  in  some  detail  in  another  chapter  because 
of  its  illustrations  of  what  may  be  expected  in  any  com- 
munity where  the  control  of  public  affairs  has  been  held 
by  some  private  individual  or  group,  when  the  citizens 
who  pay  the  bills  organize  to  look  after  th^ir  property. 
But,  here  it  is  merely  pointed  out,  that  the  official  who 
had  bowed  to  the  yoke  of  the  "king"  welcomed  with 
earnestness  and  the  joy  of  emancipation,  the  support  of 
the  citizens'  rule. 

Where  there  is  a  "boss"  of  one  party,  there  is  likely 
to  be  a  "boss"  of  the  other,  until  the  "machine"  becomes 
bipartisan.  So  it  may  be  well  to  quote  the  words  of  a 
Democratic  alderman  of  that  city.  Alderman  William 
Buckley,  after  learning  of  the  benefit  derived  from  the 
voters'  league  in  other  neighborhoods,  aided  in  the  pre- 
liminary assembling  of  the  citizens  of  his  own  district, 
and  at  the  organization  meeting,  said :  'The  acquaint- 
ance benefits,  and  the  possibilities  of  community  im- 
provement, for  the  sake  of  the  private  individual,  which 
will  come  through  this  organization,  have  already  been 
spoken  of.  I  want  to  speak  for  the  official.  A  public 
official  is  supposed  to  represent  the  people.  (  A  good  of- 
ficial wants  to  represent  the  people;  but,  how  in  the 
world  can  he  represent  the  people,  unless  he  knows  what 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  53 

the  people  want,  and  how  is  he  going  to  know  what  the 
people  want  unless  they  get  together  and  give  him  a 
chance  to  talk  things  over  with  them?" 

At  the  Cincinnati  Conference  of  the  National  Munici- 
pal League,  the  experience  of  Rochester  in  the  use  of 
the  school  buildings  as  neighborhood  civic  club  houses 
was  described.  One  of  the  men  who  attended  that  con- 
ference was  Joseph  C.  Schubert,  mayor  of  Madison,  Wis- 
consin. He  said  that  this  plan  of  establishing  a  single 
actual  voters'  league  which  should  include  the  whole 
citizenship,  organized  by  neighborhoods,  seemed  to  him, 
as  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  the  logical,  simple  means 
whereby  a  mayor  might  be  prevented  from  making  mis- 
takes and  might  serve  in  the  steady,  sure  progress  of 
the  community. 

Two  years  later,  after  the  beginning  made  in  Madi- 
son had  shown  the  universal  feasibility  of  the  plan, 
Mayor  Schubert  said  at  the  closing  dinner  of  the  First 
National  Conference  on  Social  Center  Development: 

Democratic  government  is  government  that  is  controlled 
by  the  people,  and  all  the  real  rights  of  the  people  are  cer- 
tain if  the  administration  obeys  their  wish.  The  one  thing 
for  the  administration  to  determine  is  what  is  their  wish, 
and  the  mayor  is  sometimes  confused.  When  one  stops  to 
think  of  the  different  kinds  of  people  and  the  different  habits 
and  tastes  and  the  different  wishes,  without  a  simplifying 
focus  of  public  opinion  and  desire,  it  is  plain  that  there  must 
be  confusion. 

The  city  official  often  resorts  to  the  newspapers.  What 
he  says  and  what  they  think  of  what  he  says  sometimes 
appear  in  the  same  article,  so  that  the  impression  given  out 
does  injustice,  not  only  to  the  official,  but,  what  is  more  im- 
portant, it  does  injustice  to  the  cause  for  which  the  official 
is  working.  It  was  this  sort  of  experience,  which,  I  suppose, 
every  official  has,  that  led  me  to  see  in  the  idea  of  the  cora- 
5 


54  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

prehensive  organization  of  the  citizenship  something  of  vital 
importance  to  the  official  as  well  as  to  the  people  themselves. 

If  a  public  servant  sees  an  important  improvement  that 
should  be  made,  the  first  thing  that  he  wants  to  do  is  to 
talk  it  over  with  the  people.  Now,  you  can  talk  to  an  au- 
dience, perhaps  one  composed  of  a  fraternal  society,  a  re- 
ligious denomination  or  a  partisan  group,  but  without  the 
opportunity  which  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  social 
center  offers  you  cannot  talk  to  people  of  different  affilia- 
tions, gathered  together,  and  this  is  the  sort  of  audience 
that  the  official  wants  and  needs  to  talk  to. 

Men  in  different  lines  of  business  gather  in  conventions. 
But  we  are  only  now  beginning  to  have  the  convention  of 
citizens  to  discuss  the  business  of  citizenship,  which  is  more 
important  than  any  of  the  special  lines  for  which  men  gather. 
And  this  convening  of  the  citizens  to  get  acquainted  and  to 
exchange  ideas  furnishes  an  indispensable  opportunity,  sup- 
port and  inspiration  to  the  people's  servants. 

Mayor  Schubert  is  a  Democrat.  At  the  same  table 
with  him  sat  Emil  Seidel,  the  Socialist  mayor  of  Mil- 
waukee, and  J.  W.  Howes,  the  Republican  mayor  of 
Prescott.  The  fact  that  partisan  divisions  and  labels 
mean  nothing  in  this  voters'  league,  wherein  men  gather 
as  citizens  to  consider  facts  and  ideas,  and  have  no  in- 
terest in  faction  emblems,  was  illustrated  by  the  presence 
of  these  men  side  by  side  at  this  gathering  in  a  school- 
house  (the  closing  banquet  of  this  convention  was  held 
in  the  Madison  highschool  building),  and  the  fact  that 
the  organization  of  the  citizenship  is  of  equal  benefit  to 
the  mayor,  whatever  partisan  appellation  he  may  wear, 
is  illustrated  in  the  similarity  of  the  expression  of  these 
other  men  with  that  of  Mayor  Schubert. 

Mayor  Seidel's  appreciation  of  the  significance  of 
fundamental  citizenship-organization  expressed  itself  in 
these  words: 


THE  VOTERS'  LEAGUE 


55 


We  have  been  saying  that  the  government  of  the  city  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  citizens,  and  yet  up  to  this  time  the  only 
actual  government  which  the  citizens  have  expressed  has 
been  through  their  voting  once  or  twice  a  year.  This  should 
not  be  the  case  in  a  real  democracy.  There  should  be  an 
opportunity  for  the  citizens  to  get  together  frequently  to 
discuss  the  problems  of  the  city.  This  is  necessary  in  order 
that  we  may  keep  up  with  changed  conditions  and  in  order 
to  develop  civic  intelligence.  It  is  necessary  also  in  order 
to  develop  that  broad  acquaintance  between  men  of  different 
parties,  creeds  and  classes  which  will  lead  to  a  better  com- 
mon understanding,  and  a  more  friendly  feeling  throughout 
the  city. 

As  a  public  servant  I  welcome  the  opportunity  that  this 
sort  of  gathering  gives  for  a  free  and  open  discussion  of 
the  topics  of  common  interest.  Such  discussion  helps  the 
servants  of  the  people  to  learn  what  they  desire,  and  fur- 
nishes a  chance  for  them  to  talk  over  the  matters  in  which 
they  seek  to  represent  the  people. 

Mayor  Seidel  was  then  presiding  over  the  largest  city 
in  the  state.  Mr.  Howes  is  mayor  of  one  of  the  smaller 
towns.  He  presented  the  change  that  had  come  over 
Prescott  through  the  organization  of  the  whole  citizen- 
ship into  one  people's  club. 

There  is  nothing  that  so  disgusts  me  as  to  see  hitched 
to  a  load  a  team  of  horses  which,  when  they  start,  fail  to 
start  together.  One  pulls  ahead.  The  other  sits  back.  Then 
the. other  starts  ahead  and  the  first  sits  back.  I  have  seen 
six  horses  hitched  to  a  load  that  all  did  the  same  thing, 
that  is,  they  all  did  different  things.  And  the  worst  of  it 
was  that  they  were  all  good  horses  getting  discouraged. 
They  represent  the  condition  in  the  average  town,  the  con- 
dition as  it  used  to  be  in  Prescott.  A  lot  of  little  private 
groups,  all  made  up  of  good  people  with  good  intentions, 
pulling  backward  and  forward  with  no  team  work,  using 


56  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

up  a  lot  of  energy  getting  discouraged.  The  finest  sight  in 
the  world  is  to  see  six  team-trained  horses  hitched  to  a  load. 
See  them  square  themselves,  get  ready,  and  quietly  step  into 
position.  They  settle  down,  settle  down,  settle  down,  and 
then  altogether  they  get  into  the  harness,  and  the  load  comes. 
It's  great  to  be  mayor  in  a  town  where  through  one  organi- 
zation the  people  have  learned  to  pull  together. 

Quite  obviously  it  is  not  possible  for  the  more  dis- 
tant state  and  national  officials  to  serve  as  officers  of 
the  local  gatherings  of  citizens,  the  voters'  league,  or 
to  visit  and  participate  in  such  counsels  frequently,  but 
the  privilege  is  the  more  appreciated  and  needed  when 
it  is  possible.  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  Charles  E. 
Hughes,  when  governor  of  New  York  State,  said  at 
such  a  citizens'  gathering  in  a  schoolhouse  in  Rochester: 
"We,  at  Albany,  at  times  get  a  false  perspective.  It  is 
in  meetings  like  these  that  we  have  the  opportunity 
to  get  a  true  one." 

Summing  up  the  need  of  the  public  servant  of  every 
rank  for  this  organization  of  the  real  voters'  league, 
Senator  Atlee  Pomerene  of  Ohio  said: 

This  country  will  never  be  as  good  as  it  can  be,  or  as 
good  as  it  ought  to  be,  until  every  man  and  woman  shall 
take  an  active  interest  and  an  active  part  in  the  public 
matters  of  this  country.  Do  the  aldermen  of  our  cities  need 
the  citizens'  common  counsels  ?  Yes.  Do  the  mayors  ?  Yes. 
Do  the  governors  of  our  great  commonwealths?  Yes.  Do 
the  representatives  in  Congress  and  the  United  States  sena- 
tors need  the  citizens'  common  counsels?  Yes,  more  than 
all  the  rest. 

In  these  quotations  is  indicated  the  difference  of  the 
welcome  given  by  public  officials  to  the  organization 
and  activities  of  the  voters'  league  which  is  established 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  57 

through  the  all-inclusive  coordination  of  the  citizenship 
for  deliberation,  from  the  irritated  antagonism  which 
is  aroused  by  the  formation  and  "interference"  of  the 
usual  volunteer  band  of  reformers  which  goes  under 
the  name  of  "the  voters'  league." 

The  reason  for  this  is  deeper  than  the  mere  con- 
venience of  opportunity  which  the  citizenship-organiza- 
tion offers  to  the  public  official,  to  talk  public  business 
over  with  the  people  who  pay  the  bills.  The  reason  lies 
in  the  fact  that  this  sort  of  organization  humanizes  the 
public  attitude  toward  the  man  who  happens  to  be  in 
the  public  service. 

A  corollary  of  the  conception  of  the  government  as 
something  above  the  citizenship  has  been  of  course  the 
idea  that  the  men  who  have  been  selected  as  agents  or 
subcommittee  members  to  administer  the  details  of  the 
together-business  of  government  were  above  the  citizens. 
If  the  city  hall  is  up  there  somewhere,  and  the  state 
house  up  higher,  and  the  national  capitol  up  higher  yet, 
at  the  top  of  a  pyramid,  whose  base  is  the  citizenship, 
then  of  course,  the  men  who  meet  at  the  city  hall  are 
raised,  and  the  men  who  go  to  the  state  house  are  ele- 
vated, and  the  men  at  the  national  capitol  are  exalted, 
far  above  the  men  and  women  who  live  down  on  the 
earth. 

This,  of  course,  is  the  remnant  of  the  old  habit  of 
thought  which  men  learned  when  the  authority  of  gov- 
ernment was  supposed  to  come  down  through  an  up- 
turned funnel  over  the  palace  of  the  king,  running  down 
through  pipe  lines  to  the  castles  of  the  barons,  and  from 
them  distributed  down  to  the  mayors  of  the  towns,  and 
so  sprayed  upon  the  people  from  above. 

This  idea  of  the  official  as  over  the  people,  this  divine 
right  of  kings  idea,  while  it  called  for  reverence  on 


58  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  part  of  the  people  below  tended  to  bring  forth  some- 
thing else.  The  fact  that  the  ruler  was  to  be  obeyed 
without  question,  tended  to  suggest  that  if  the  decrees 
of  the  ruler  were  not  to  be  questioned,  the  reason  might 
be  that  the  wisdom  and  Tightness  of  those  decrees  would 
not  stand  questioning.  That  is  to  say,  if  the  official  re- 
fused to  explain  the  reason  for  his  actions,  the  reason 
might  be  that  he  could  not.  Hence  the  assumption 
that  "the  king  can  do  no  wrong"  led  quite  inevitably 
to  the  suspicion  that  the  king  can  do  no  right.  This 
suspicion  on  the  part  of  subjects,  or  those  who  regarded 
themselves  as  subjects,  was  hastened,  of  course,  by 
the  abuse  of  power  of  "those  in  authority,"  but,  even 
if  the  "divine  right  of  kings"  to  rule  were  not  abused, 
it  would  be  natural  for  this  suspicion  to  develop,  as 
the  people  grew  up  from  the  child  attitude  of  docile 
unthinking  obedience  to  the  open-eyed  adulthood  of  con- 
scious citizenship.  It  was  as  inevitable  as  the  develop- 
ment which  conies  about  in  every  family.  At  first  the 
children  look  up  to  the  parent  with  reverence  for  the 
parent's  opinion.  A  thing  is  so,  to  the  child,  whether  it 
is  so  or  not  if  the  father  or  mother  says  it  is  so.  But 
as  the  children  grow,  if  the  parents  continue  to  be 
arbitrary  and  do  not  begin  to  explain  as  soon  as  the 
children  can  understand  explanation  and  to  appeal  to 
the  reasoning  power  of  the  children  as  soon  as  that 
power  is  evident,  then  there  surely  comes  a  time  when, 
instead  of  the  parent's  word  being  accepted  as  final  and 
right,  the  suspicion  and  then  the  assumption  that  the 
parent  is  probably  wrong  grow  with  the  maturing  of  the 
children. 

The  fact  is  that  the  official  in  this  country  in  so  far 
as  he  assumes,  or  is  assumed  to  be  over  the  people 
suffers  from  the  suspicion  of  those  who  are  assumed 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  59 

to  be  under  him,  far  more  than  he  benefits  by  their 
blind  reverence,  if  indeed  he  could  benefit  by  blind  rev- 
erence. Here  and  there  one  finds  a  political  atavism 
expressed,  as  in  the  words  of  Irving  Bacheller  in  his 
defense  of  the  president;*  not  because  the  president  is 
right,  but  because  he  is  president. 

Of  him  please  say  no  evil  thing, 
For,  sir,  my  president's  my  king. 
Archangels  only,  near  to  God 
May  lay  upon  his   soul  the  rod. 

But  for  one  man  who  has  this  feeling  toward  the 
public  official  there  are  a  thousand  who  have  the  atti- 
tude of  assuming  or  suspecting  that  the  person  in  office 
is  probably  a  crook. 

The  words  of  the  man  f  who  by  the  possession  of 
money  might  enjoy  exaltation  if  exaltation  were  en- 
joyable, are  true  of  the  average  man  in  public  office, 
who  by  the  old  idea  might  assume  political  elevation. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  above  people;  I  wish  to  be  with  people. 
The  tiresome,  hateful  climb  upward  on  their  heads  and 

shoulders 
Hurts  their  heads  and  shoulders,  but  it  hurts  my  feet  still 

more. 
The  thin,  empty  air;  thinner  and  emptier  and  less  satisfying 

the  higher  I  get, 

The  platform  of  upturned  faces  on  which  I  stand, 
The  elbowing  and  scrambling  around  me  and  over  me, 
I  am  sick  to  death  of  it. 
My  feet  yearn  for  the  feel  of  the  sod. 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  above  people. 
I  wish  to  be  with  people. 

*  Harper's  Weekly,  May  25,  1912. 
f  Ernest  Crosby  in  Broad  Cast. 


60  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

The  typical  volunteer  militant  group  of  reformers 
who  organize  into  what  they  call  the  voters'  league  as- 
sumes that  the  public  official  is  something  less  than  a 
man,  just  as  the  persons  of  the  type  represented  by 
Mr.  Bacheller  assume  that  he  is  something  more. 

The  voters'  league  made  up  of  the  citizens  gathering 
as  neighbors  to  talk  over  the  common  problems  of  living 
together  regards  him  as  a  neighbor,  a  fellow  citizen, 
who  has  the  equal  right  with , other  citizens  to  be  con- 
sidered innocent  until  proven  guilty,  who  has  the  equal 
need  of  other  human  beings  for  companionship  and  good 
will. 

Tom  Tynan,  the  warden  of  the  Colorado  State  Peni- 
tentiary is  perhaps  the  most  successful  administrator 
of  a  prison,  in  the  world.  His  attitude  is  expressed  in 
these  words.  "No  matter  what  a  man  has  done,  when 
he  comes  here,  he  is  just  a  man."  This  is  the  attitude 
of  the  all-inclusive  voters'  league  toward  the  public 
official.  No  matter  what  position  or  office  a  man  may 
hold,  when  he  comes  to  one  of  these  citizens'  common 
council  gatherings,  he  is  just  a  man. 

Both  reverence  and  suspicion  are  removed  and  the 
public  servant  is  recognized  for  what  he  really  is  in 
a  democracy,  the  agent  of  cooperation  between  the 
citizens.  There  will  no  doubt  be  occasionally  a  public 
servant  who  will  fail  to  appreciate  the  joy  of  this  fellow- 
ship support.  Indeed  the  exception  who  proves  the  rule 
has  appeared  in  Rochester,  where  a  municipal  judge 
answered  an  invitation  from  a  neighborhood  citizens' 
organization,  to  come  and  explain  why  he  pardoned 
the  milkmen  whom  Dr.  Goler,  the  health  officer,  had 
arrested  for  distributing  disease  infected  milk,  by  ex- 
claiming: "Me  explain?  Why,  I'm  a  judge!"  Thus 
far  the  umpire  has,  however,  proved  sui  generis  in 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  6l 

this  sort  of  attitude,  even  among  public  servants  in 
communities  where  the  "boss-ship"  or  appointing  power 
has  been  assumed  by  a  volunteer  as  in  the  case  of 
Rochester. 

In  1884,  Governor  Wilson  in  his  doctoral  thesis  said: 
"The  constitution  is  not  honored  by  blind  worship." 
The  democratic  intelligence  expressed  in  these  words, 
was  endorsed  at  the  recent  inauguration  of  President 
Hibben  at  Princeton  University,  by  the  Chief  Justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  If  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States  could  speak  it  would  probably  say 
"Amen"  and  quote  the  words  of  Washington  spoken 
in  its  youth,  "The  basis  of  our  political  systems  is  the 
right  of  the  people  to  make  and  to  alter  their  constitu- 
tions of  government."  At  any  rate  the  men  in  whose 
persons  public  agreement  is  embodied,  as  public  agree- 
ment was  embodied  in  the  constitution  when  it  was 
adopted,  everywhere  say  by  their  welcome  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  meet  with  the  citizens  organized  for  delibera- 
tion, "The  public  servant  is  not  honored  by  blind  wor- 
ship— or  blind  suspicion." 

The  effect  upon  the  public  servant  of  the  activity  of 
the  volunteer  organization  of  reformers  calling  itself  the 
voters'  league  is,  if  it  succeeds,  like  the  reaction  from 
the  introduction  of  drugs,  foreign  substances,  to  fight 
disease  in  the  individual.  The  effect  upon  the  public 
service  of  the  comprehensive  organization  of  the  whole 
citizenship  to  cooperate  with  the  agents  of  its  coopera- 
tion is  like  obedience  to  the  law  of  health  which  makes 
the  use  of  drugs  unnecessary. 

The  other  great  object  of  organizing  volunteer  voters' 
leagues  is  to  bring  about  changes  in  the  machinery  or 
method  by  which  the  people  get  the  common  business 
done,  or  in  promoting  the  adoption  of  certain  public 


62  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

rules  or  the  undertaking  of  certain  public  cooperative 
enterprises. 

In  this  effort  to  bring  about  what  its  members  re- 
gard as  improvement,  the  private  body  which  calls  itself 
the  voters'  league  always  puts  the  cart  before  the  horse. 
It  begins  with  the  conclusion  that  certain  things  should 
be  done.  It  then  goes  out  to  persuade  the  public  ser- 
vants or  the  voters  that  its  conclusion  is  correct.  It 
puts  the  cart  first  and  then  tries  to  lead  or  drive  the 
horse  up  behind  it  to  push  it  along.  The  voters'  league 
coordinated  through  the  all-inclusive  organization  of  the 
electorate  begins  by  establishing  an  absolutely  free  and 
unbiased  forum  in  which  facts  and  proposed  improve- 
ments may  be  presented  from  every  point  of  view,  and 
when,  by  means  of  fair  hearing  and  free  discussion,  a 
conclusion  is  arrived  at,  that  is  the  end  of  the  prepara- 
tion, and  the  conclusion  is  expressed  at  the  ballot  box. 

Such  organization  gives  full  and  convenient  oppor- 
tunity to  the  man  who  has  a  real  improvement  to  offer, 
a  very  much  better  opportunity  than  he  could  possibly 
have  without  this  organization.  He  does  not  have  to 
waste  his  energy  in  trying  to  get  an  audience,  in  try- 
ing to  make  himself  heard  above  hubbub  and  confusion. 
But  it  does  something  much  more  important  than  that, 
it  tends  to  make  sure  that  any  proposal  of  improvement 
is  sound,  before  it  is  tried.  It  gives  the  man  who  might 
be  able  to  point  out  weak  spots  in  a  plan  the  chance  to 
state  his  objections  when  it  is  broached.  It  furnishes 
a  chance  for  such  modifying  and  humanizing,  such 
rounding  and  perfecting,  such  trying  and  winnowing  of 
any  proposal  as  can  come  to  it  only  by  being  put  to  the 
test  of  the  common-sense  of,  not  a  selected  group,  but 
all  sorts  of  minds. 

Occasionally  there  is  a  reformer  who  works  over  his 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  63 

plan  of  improvement  for  twenty  years,  so  that  when  it 
goes  to  the  public  it  is  matured,  tested,  perfect,  and 
there  are  no  patchings  up  to  be  made  afterward.  Dean 
Henry  did  this  with  his  reform  and  it  has  not  been  im- 
proved upon.  But  his  reform  was  not  in  public  admin- 
istration; it  was  in  feeding  cattle.  This  sort  of  reform 
is  susceptible  of  private  experimentation.  Political  re- 
forms are  not  susceptible  of  private  experimentation. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  any  governmental  improvement 
ever  sprang  full  matured  and  perfect  from  the  head  of 
any  one  man  or  group  of  men.  Very  frequently  the 
proposal  of  one  group  of  reformers  is  half-baked,  like 
Ephraim,  "a  cake  not  turned,"  a  pancake,  burned  on  one 
side  and  dough  on  the  other.  The  result  of  the  prelim- 
inary all-sided  discussion  of  a  proposal  is  that  there 
emerges  from  such  discussion  a  plan  which  may  be  dif- 
ferent from,  and  better  than  the  original,  a  genuine, 
sound  improvement  upon  which  both  the  reformers  and 
the  opponents  of  their  project  can  agree. 

By  way  of  illustration,  take  the  proposal  of  political 
change  which  is  perhaps  the  most  common  platform  of 
reformers  in  all  parts  of  the  country — the  proposal  to 
abolish  the  institution  which  has  hitherto  served,  more 
than  any  other,  as  the  headquarters  of  citizenship,  the 
source  of  power  in  city,  state  and  nation — the  saloon. 

Among  the  members  of  one  of  the  neighborhood 
civic  clubs,  as  the  all-inclusive  district  organizations  of 
the  electorate  are  called  in  Rochester,  New  York,  there 
were  several  ardent  advocates  of  prohibition.  One  of 
these  men  proposed  that  arguments  for  the  adoption  of 
this  "improvement"  should  be  presented  by  Mr.  Clinton 
Howard,  an  experienced  advocate  of  prohibition,  and 
moved  that  he  be  invited  to  speak  before  the  club.  The 
motion  was  amended  by  the  attachment  of  the  resolution 


64  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

to  invite  Mr.  Joseph  Renter,  a  manufacturer  of  that  city, 
to  speak  in  defense  of  the  saloon  at  the  same  meeting,  the 
topic  to  be  "The  Social  Value  of  the  Saloon."  The  mo- 
tion as  amended  carried.  Both  men  accepted  the  club's 
invitation. 

At  the  meeting,  Mr.  Howard  pointed  out  the  evils 
of  the  saloon.  Mr.  Reuter  granted  the  evils,  but  said 
that  the  saloon  serves  an  essential  function  as  a  demo- 
cratic gathering  place,  where  men  of  average  means 
may  find  the  fellowship  of  level  association  and  the 
necessary  education  of  untrammeled  discussion.  The  au- 
dience was  made  up  of  a  few  men  who  were  decidedly 
opposed  to  the  saloon,  a  few  who  were  ardent  defenders 
of  the  saloon,  and  a  large  majority  who  had  no  strong 
feelings  either  way,  who  had  not  given  the  subject 
much  thought.  In  the  discussion  which  followed  the 
addresses,  there  was,  of  course,  some  of  the  mere  thrust 
and  parry  of  debate,  but  soon  there  began  to  evolve,  in 
accordance  with  the  natural  tendency  of  discussion  in 
which  men  participate  who  have  not  taken  sides  on  a 
mooted  question,  and  who  therefore  come  to  the  dis- 
cussion with  minds  free  from  sentiment  or  prejudice, 
the  idea  that  neither  of  the  contestants  had  the  com- 
plete answer. 

The  idea  began  to  take  form  as  a  consensus  of 
opinion,  that  the  solution  was  to  be  found  neither  in 
attacking  nor  in  maintaining  the  saloon,  but  in  the  de- 
velopment of  an  institution  which  should  provide  op- 
portunity for  the  man-to-man  liberty  of  comradely  asso- 
ciation, and  the  education  of  free  discussion  which  the 
saloon  now  offers  (at  least,  while  a  man  has  money), 
but  which  would  be  free  from  the  degrading  elements 
of  that  institution.  In  other  words,  the  conclusion  of 
the  argument  was  that  the  solution  lay  in  developing 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  65 

the  use  of  the  social  center  as  a  place  not  only  of  dis- 
cussion, but  also  of  fellowship  with  such  interesting  and 
attractive  recreational  equipment  as  would  supply  whole- 
somely the  needs  which  the  saloon  destructively  pro- 
vides. At  the  end  of  the  meeting  not  only  had  the 
resource  of  interest  and  acquaintance  potential  in  the 
discussion  of  every  political  question  been  developed, 
but  practically  the  whole  number  of  men  who  attended 
the  meeting,  including  the  two  main  speakers,  found 
as  the  outcome  of  the  discussion  a  constructive  program 
upon  which  they  could  agree. 

But  even  where  through  its  successful  operation  in 
other  places  there  may  be  good  reason  to  believe  that 
a  proposed  reform  is  sound,  so  that  the  likelihood  of 
its  being  changed  and  improved  by  all-sided  discussion 
is  small,  the  method  of  seeking  the  change  through  its 
consideration  on  its  merits  by  a  general  league  of 
citizens,  has  every  advantage  over  the  usual  method  of 
propagation,  i.  e.,  the  organization  of  a  private  body  of 
those  who  advocate  the  reform. 

Take  the  project  of  securing  the  change  in  any  city 
from  the  old  system  of  ward  representation  to  the 
method  of  government  by  commission.  Suppose  that 
one  man  in  a  town  has  reason  to  believe  that  this 
change  would  be  desirable  for  his  community.  If  the 
citizens  are  using  the  schoolhouses  for  weekly  gather- 
ing for  deliberation  upon  public  questions,  he  will  be 
able  at  no  expense,  to  present  his  argument  before  his 
own  neighbors.  Supposing  that  the  discussion  eventu- 
ates in  the  recommendation  from  this  neighborhood  or- 
ganization to  the  general  federation  of  neighborhood 
bodies,  through  its  central  committee,  that  this  subject  be 
taken  up  by  all  of  the  organizations,  that  is  by  the  whole 
voters'  league  of  the  city.  The  central  librarian,  and 


66  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  neighborhood  secretaries  in  their  work  as  civic 
librarians  at  once  secure  and  arrange  accessibly  the 
latest  data  upon  commission  government.  For  a  few 
weeks  the  thought  of  the  whole  city  is  focused  upon 
this  question.  It  may  be  that  the  citizens  vote  to  invite 
men  from  various  cities  in  which  the  plan  has  been  tried 
to  come  and  tell  the  experience  of  those  cities.  This 
will  be  at  public  expense,  of  course,  just  as  when  the 
aldermen  invite  expert  counsel  from  other  cities. 

By  the  end  of  the  month  the  citizens  may  be  ready 
to  vote  on  the  question.  Of  course,  they  may  take 
longer  for  deliberation,  if  they  choose,  just  as  the  mem- 
bers of  all  subcommittees  may  fix  the  time  of  the  vote. 
But  within  a  short  time  this  question  is  settled  and 
the  corporation,  the  company,  the  membership  of  the 
city  is  free  to  consider  other  public  problems. 

That  this  sort  of  expeditious  and  economical  handling 
of  such  a  proposal  is  entirely  feasible  is  illustrated  by 
the  fact  that  in  the  city  of  Appleton,  Wisconsin,  even 
though  there  were  not  at  the  time  publicly  hired  neigh- 
borhood secretaries,  and  their  work  as  well  as  that  of 
the  general  civic  secretary  had  to  be  done  by  volunteers, 
the  proposal  to  change  to  the  commission  form  was 
taken  up,  threshed  out  and  voted  on  at  practically  no 
expense  through  the  consideration  of  this  question  by 
the  league  of  the  whole  citizenship  in  their  neighbor- 
hood counsels  in  the  schoolhouses. 

Compare  this  business  expedition  and  facility  with 
the  method  of  propagating  the  commission  form  of 
city  government  in  New  York  State,  where  there  is  a 
separate  volunteer  league  of  those  who  believe  in  this 
reform,  using  up  an  immense  amount  of  time,  energy  and 
money  in  its  competition  with  other  reform  bodies  for 
the  membership  and  interest  of  the  citizens.  To  be 


THE   VOTERS'   LEAGUE  67 

sure,  the  question  is  complicated  there  by  the  fact  that 
the  legislature  refuses  to  permit  the  citizens  of  the 
various  cities  to  decide  on  the  method  of  conducting  their 
own  business.  But  this  very  fact  that  this  project  of 
commission  plan  adoption  is  not  simple,  but  is  tied  up 
with  other  changes  which  must  be  considered,  is  itself 
the  best  of  reasons  for  forming  a  common  organization 
which  is  free  to  turn  its  attention  to  any  public  ques- 
tion and  includes  in  its  membership  not  only  those  who 
are  committed  to  one  particular  reform  but  all  the  voters. 

While  the  single  voters'  league  which  is  formed 
when  the  schoolhouses  are  used  as  deliberative  head- 
quarters of  the  whole  electorate  organized  by  neighbor- 
hoods, includes  all  of  the  members  of  whatever  political 
reform  organization  there  may  be  in  the  city  and  has 
as  its  function  the  consideration,  each  in  its  turn,  of  all 
of  the  projects  of  the  various  organizations  as  well  as 
other  projects,  it  should  of  course  be  recognized  that 
the  comprehensive  organization  thus  established  is  not 
a  federation  of  existing  organizations.  It  is  a  federation 
of  citizens,  of  voters,  and  the  old  private  membership 
lines  are  obliterated  in  the  fundamental  and  supreme 
membership  of  the  one  voters'  league. 

Obviously,  this  establishment  of  the  real  voters'  league 
to  do  the  work  which  private  volunteer  groups  have 
been  trying  to  do  does  not  mean  the  loss  to  the  com- 
munity of  the  splendid  service,  the  unselfish  leadership, 
the  high  zeal  for  righteousness  in  public  business  ad- 
ministration, which  the  men  who  have  been  active  in 
private  reform  leagues  have  shown.  On  the  contrary 
it  means  the  conservation  of  their  zeal  and  energy 
which  without  this  basic  organization  has  been  so  largely 
burned  up  in  the  mere  maintenance  of  private  organiza- 
tions, in  the  competitions  between  them,  in  the  fighting 


68  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  other  special  private  interferers  with  the  public  busi- 
ness, and  in  getting  discouraged. 

One  of  the  great  words  of  all  voters'  leagues  is 
efficiency  in  government.  The  organization  of  the  citi- 
zenship into  one  voters'  league  is  the  beginning  of 
efficiency  in  government. 


CHAPTER  IV 

POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION — NOT  PARTITION 

When  Alexander  Hamilton  banged  his  fist  on  the 
table,  and  said :  "The  people !  The  people !  Sir — is  a 
Great  Beast!"  he  was  unfair  to  the  beast.  The  people 
in  the  sense  in  which  Lincoln  used  the  term,  as  referring 
to  the  electorate,  is  an  organized  body,  but  it  is  not  of 
as  high  a  type  as  a  beast,  for  a  beast,  even  though  vaguely, 
has  a  consciousness  of  its  unity,  its  selfhood.  The  people, 
the  organized  body  of  the  citizenship  has  a  unity,  a 
selfhood,  but  it  is  no  more  conscious  of  it  than  are  the 
coordinated  cells  of  a  cabbage  leaf  of  their  unity.  The 
people  is  not  a  great  beast.  The  people  is  a  great  vege- 
table. 

When  the  members  of  the  electorate  add  to  their  com- 
mon function  of  participating  in  the  decision  upon  public 
questions,  the  function  of  consciously  organizing  to  de- 
liberate upon  public  questions,  then  the  people  become  a 
reasoning,  a  self-knowing  being. 

The  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  headquarters  for  the 
neighborhood  organization  of  the  electorate  for  assem- 
bled deliberation  on  public  questions,  as  well  as  for  com- 
mon gathering  to  decide  public  questions,  is  the  true 
political  organization,  not  only  in  intention,  but  in  make- 
up and  spirit. 

The  term  "political"  is  one  of  the  synonyms  for  the 
word  "public."  Any  volunteer  .group  of  individuals  may 
6  69 


^0  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

form  an  organization  to  influence  the  decisions  of  the 
citizenship  or  the  actions  of  public  servants.  Such  an 
organization  is  political  in  its  intention,  but  it  is  neces- 
sarily private,  non  public;  that  is,  non  political,  in  its 
makeup.  This  is  true  whether  it  be  a  group  of  men 
organized  into  a  "ring"  to  "deliver  the  vote,"  or  a  great 
volunteer  association  for  interference  with  the  public 
business  such  as  Tammany  Hall ;  whether  it  be  a  pri- 
vate band  of  public  business  reformers  or  deformers,  in 
any  city  or  state;  or  whether  it  be  a  national  party  or- 
ganization. 

It  is  very  strange  that  the  term  "political"  which 
essentially  connotes  the  whole  citizenship  should  be  con- 
fused with  the  term  "partisan"  which  connotes  that 
which  can  never  be  the  whole,  because  it  always  refers 
to  a  part,  when  we  have  kept  the  original  and  true  sense 
of  the  term  political  organization  or  body  in  using  this 
expression  with  the  two  words  transposed,  the  body- 
politic.  The  political  organization,  or  the  political  body 
of  neighborhood,  city,  state,  nation,  is  simply  the  body- 
politic  straightened  around,  eyes  to  the  front. 

Obviously  there  may  be  any  number  of  parts;  there 
can  be  only  one  whole.  There  may  be  any  number  of 
private  groups  or  organizations,  which  have  as  their 
aim  the  influencing  of  public  action,  the  influencing  of 
the  citizenship  in  its  expression,  or  the  influencing  of 
the  servants  of  the  citizenship  in  their  work.  These 
may  have  a  political  aim,  but  their  character  is  essentially 
non-political.  There  can  be  only  one  political  organiza- 
tion. This  is  the  one  body  of  the  citizenship  which 
is  now  coordinated  into  neighborhood  associations  for 
voting,  each  federated  with  the  others  into  city,  state  and 
then  national  unity — the  one  body-politic,  the  one  po- 
litical organization  to  which  every  voter  belongs. 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  71 

This  organization  now  exists.  Its  nexus  is  the  com- 
mon bond  of  responsibility  centering  in  the  ballot-box 
in  each  community.  This  common  membership  in 
responsibility  is  the  ligament,  the  connecting  tie  of  the 
one  political  body.  And  when  the  citizens  assume  the 
function  of  really  getting  together,  not  separately,  one 
after  another,  sheep  fashion,  tandem  formation,  but  as 
a  team,  it  does  not  mean  the  formation  of  a  new  political 
organization,  but  simply  the  realization  of  the  function 
of  deliberation  which  the  obligation  of  decision  implies 
and  requires  for  its  intelligent  administration. 

We  have  so  long  used  the  term  "political  organiza- 
tion" as  synonymous  with  the  conspiracy  of  a  "plunder- 
bund/'  or  as  "partisan"  organization,  that  it  is  hard  to 
grasp  the  idea  of  the  common  association  of  men  of 
every  point  of  view,  who  get  together,  by  neighborhoods, 
in  the  district  public  buildings,  not  to  get  this  or  that 
privilege  established,  or  to  get  a  certain  candidacy  or 
theory  advanced,  but  (to  learn  the  facts  about  any  public 
("matter,  to  find  the  answer  to  each  problem  as  it  arises, 
to  think  out  what  is  needed,  and  to  select  the  best  men 
to  do  what  the  majority  agree  should  be  done,  as  a 
political  organization.  But  this  is  and  can  be  for  the 
neighborhood,  and  the  federation  of  such  bodies  can 
be  for  the  nation,  the  only  possible  political  organization, 
both  in  intention  and  makeup. 

The  fact  is  that  we,  the  citizenship,  have  left  the 
most  important  business  of  our  common  political  life 
to  private  groups.  We  have  gathered  in  this  political 
organization  to  express  our  wills.  We  have  failed  to 
concert  our  intelligence  in  the  directing  of  our  wills. 
We  have  gathered  to  pull  the  trigger.  We  have  left  it 
to  private  organizations  to  load  and  aim  and  sight  the 
v  gun.  We  have  gathered  to  put  into  our  national  system 


72  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  medicine.  We  have  left  it  to  any  one  who  chooses 
to  concoct  the  dose  and  label  the  bottle.  We  have  gath- 
ered to  sign  checks  upon  our  accounts,  and  promissory 
notes.  We  have  left  it  to  irresponsible  and  self-seek- 
ing individuals  and  groups  to  make  out  the  checks  and 
write  the  notes. 

To  be  sure,  at  each  election,  we  have  had  the  choice 
of  pulling  the  triggers  of  several  guns;  but  they  were 
all  privately  loaded  and  aimed.  We  have  had  the  chance 
to  select  among  two  or  three  differently  labeled  bottles ; 
but  each .  was  privately  concocted.  We  have  had  the 
privilege  of  choosing  among  several  sets  of  checks  and 
notes;  but  each  was  written  by  a  private  group. 

When  we  came  to  shoot,  to  swallow,  to  sign,  we  have 
found  that  each  group  of  aimers,  pharmacists,  check 
writers,  was  saying  that  all  the  other  guns  were  wrongly 
aimed,  all  the  other  mixtures  were  bad  medicine,  all  the 
other  checks  and  notes  were  crooked.  Which  was  right 
we  learned  after  election,  and  if  we  had  been  misled  by 
one  private  group  so  that  we  felt  it,  we  turned  to  give 
another  private  organization  a  chance  at  us  next  time. 

We  have  gathered  to  go  ahead.  We  have  not  gotten 
together  to  be  sure  we  were  right  about  the  direction. 
We  have  gathered  to  act;  we  have  not  gotten  together 
to  make  up  our  mind  how  to  act.  We  have  gathered 
to  tell  the  answers  to  problems;  we  have  not  gotten  to- 
gether to  work  out  the  problems. 

And  this  private  preparation  of  the  alternatives  for 
public  choice,  this  pulling  and  shouldering  and  self- 
seeking,  this  effort  to  dominate,  to  rule,  to  get  votes, 
with  all  its  trickery  and  intrigue,  with  all  its  buncombe 
and  hypocrisy,  we  have  called — "politics."  We  turn  to 
the  dictionary,  Webster's  for  instance,  and  there,  first, 
is  the  definition :  "Politics  is  the  science  of  government." 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  73 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say  that  every  private  organiza- 
tion of  men,  such  as  a  party,  which  aims  to  influence  the 
public's  action  is  crooked  and  anti-social  in  its  intent. 
The  vast  majority  of  men  in  every  party  are  noble  in 
their  purpose,  because  the  vast  majority  of  men  are  fine 
in  spirit.  But  not  only  is  the  party,  in  its  makeup,  essen- 
tially and  necessarily  non-political,  that  is  non-public, 
but  in  its  essential  spirit  the  party  organization  is  a 
non-political  body  in  the  sense  in  which  Webster  defined 
the  term,  as  the  "science  of  government."  There  is  es- 
sentially nothing  scientific  in  the  character  of  the  political 
party. 

The  nexus  which  holds  men  together  in  a  party,  at 
the  best  (and  often  it  is  less  and  lower)  is  not  inquiry, 
the  desire  to  get  at  the  facts,  but  belief.  The  prohibition 
party,  for  instance,  is  an  organization  of  those  who 
believe  in  prohibition.  The  socialist  party  is  an  organi- 
zation of  those  who  believe  in  socialism  and  subscribe  to 
a  creed.  The  dominant  parties  are  made  up  of  those 
who  believe  (in  a  confused,  lackadaisical,  custom-ruled, 
brain-drying  way,  to  be  sure,  as  must  necessarily  be  the 
case  when  the  issues  on  which  the  parties  divided  are 
dead  and  the  parties  are  still  toting  the  corpses  around 
as  their  proud  emblems  of  division)  in  "Republicanism" 
and  "Democracy"  respectively.  What  these  words  mean, 
one  can  tell  at  any  particular  time  by  reading  the  party 
"platform."  This  is  for  use,  as  has  frequently  been 
noted,  as  a  car  platform  is  used,  merely  to  get  in  on. 
But  while  it  exists  this  platform  is  the  party's  creed. 

There  is  no  objection  to  the  organization  of  believers 
to  comfort  each  other  in  their  faith  or  to  propagate 
their  belief;  but  for  the  settlement  of  our  common 
problems  of  living  together,  for  working  out  the  ques- 
tions of  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it  in  our  associated 


74  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

life,  for  getting  the  together-business  done  that  we  want 
done,  this  reason  deadening,  sentimentality  developing 
exercise  of  the  believing  function  as  the  means  of  prepar- 
ation for  finding  intelligent  answers,  is  certainly  as  far 
from  the  scientific  method  and  attitude  as  blindness  is 
from  sight.  The  attitude  of  science  is  always  and  every- 
where, the  see-both-sides,  look-at-the-problem-from- 
every-point-of-view  attitude. 

The  common  organization  of  the  citizenship,  using 
the  schoolhouses  as  neighborhood  headquarters  for  de- 
liberation upon  public  questions  is  essentially  political, 
essentially  scientific  in  its  character  and  spirit.  This 
organization  has  no  nexus  of  common  belief  as  its  basis. 
Its  nexus  is  the  common  spirit  of  inquiry,  the  common 
desire  to  get  at  the  truth.  If  one  or  more  individuals 
in  such  a  body  have  similar  political  views  or  beliefs, 
there  are  present  individuals  who  have  other  points  of 
view,  other  beliefs.  If  the  discussion  eventuates  in  agree- 
ment, or  in  the  majority  arriving  at  the  same  idea,  or 
belief,  all  right.  If  not,  the  discussion  will  continue  until 
they  do.  A  consensus  of  opinion,  a  common  belief  may 
come  as  the  conclusion.  It  is  never  the  starting  point  or 
basis  of  this  organization.  This  body  stands  on  no 
"platform."  It  stands  upon  the  ground,  the  common 
ground. 

A  simple  and,  perhaps,  trite  illustration  may  make  the 
difference  between  this  scientific,  that  is,  political-organi- 
zation get-together  method,  and  the  party  division 
method  plain.  Suppose  that  we  are  a  community  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy  citizens.  The  question  to  be 
decided  is  regarding  the  color  of  a  shield,  green  on  one 
side  and  brown  on  the  other,  which  has  appeared  in 
our  midst.  We  will  decide  this  question  by  the  party 
method. 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  75 

"What  color  is  the  shield?" 

"Green,"  whisper  to  each  other  the  men  who  stand 
on  the  green  side. 

"Brown,"  they  who  see  the  other  side  are  saying. 

The  essential  idea  of  party  organization  is  to  "stand 
pat,"  to  stay  where  you  are,  to  "keep  the  faith,"  and 
we  are  going  to  decide  this  question  by  the  party  method. 
Those  who  see  the  shield  as  green  therefore  organize 
a  party  whose  platform  is  the  belief  in  the  greenness 
of  the  shield.  They  listen  to  speakers  from  their 
number;  good  speakers  they  are,  for  they  prove  the 
greenness  of  the  shield  to  people  who  already  believe 
that  it  is  green.  Association  develops  enthusiasm.  Party 
spirit  is  appealed  to  and  responds.  A  sense  of  superiority 
develops.  That  anybody  can  fail  to  see  that  the  shield 
is  green  proves  that  he  must  be  stupid  or  worse.  Green 
becomes  a  principle  to  which  the  members  of  the  party 
pledge  themselves.  They  contribute  to  green  campaign 
expenses ;  they  march  in  green  torchlight  processions. 

Meanwhile  the  same  thing  is  happening  among  the 
men  who  see  the  brown  side.  "What's  that  you  say? 
Those  people  declare  the  shield  is  green  ?  Don't  go  near 
them.  They  are  fools  or  liars — enemies  of  the  common 
weal.  Wait  till  election!  We'll  show  who's  right." 
And  the  brown  party  organization  holds  brown  mass 
meetings,  and  vociferously,  excitedly  and  at  great  ex- 
pense, persuade  themselves  of  what  they  already  believe. 

At  last  the  vote  is  taken,  and  the  question  decided. 
It  happens  that  ninety-two  of  us  were  standing  where 
the  shield  looked  green  and  only  eighty-four  were  on 
the  brown  side. 

Hurray!  Rooster  on  the  front  page! — to  one  who 
has  seen  two  roosters  kill  each  other,  not  because  they 
had  anything  to  gain  by  fighting,  or  because  there  was 


76  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

any  ground  of  enmity  between  them,  but  simply  because 
it  pleased  a  leering  brute  to  set  them  at  it,  there  is  some- 
thing peculiarly  appropriate  about  that  rooster  on  the 
front  page.  Great  victory  over  the  enemy!  The  shield 
is  declared  green. 

If,  instead  of  using  the  party-division  method  in  de- 
ciding this  common  problem,  that  is,  if  we  had  gotten 
together  so  as  to  look  at  the  matter  from  different  points 
of  view,  we  would  all  have  found  that  the  question  re- 
garding the  color  of  the  shield,  being  two  sided,  was 
more  interesting  than  we  had  supposed.  We  would  all 
have  learned  something.  We  would  not  have  wasted, 
absolutely  wasted,  a  lot  of  energy.  Some  of  us  would 
not  have  developed  the  poisonous  idea  that  others  of  us 
were  dishonest  or  imbecile  and  the  decision  would  have 
been  intelligent.  Moreover,  we  would  not  suffer  and 
cause  our  children  to  suffer  from  the  dreadful  hang- 
over of  division  continued  after  this  issue  had  been 
settled. 

It  may  be  granted  that  the  practical  questions  re- 
garding rules  to  be  adopted,  investments  to  be  made, 
selection  of  servants,  cooperations  to  be  entered  into  in 
our  life  together,  are  not  so  impersonal,  as  this  of  the 
color  of  the  shield,  that  they  are  finally  economic  and 
come  close  home  as  questions  regarding  bread  for  our 
families  and  the  environment  of  life  or  death  for  our 
children.  But  they  are  questions,  always  questions,  as 
to  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it,  little  immediate  sections 
of  the  big  continuous  problem  of  civilized  adjustment. 
Questions  call  always  for  learning  the  facts,  for  looking 
at  every  side,  for  light,  for  investigation,  for  quiet  in 
which  to  get  other  people's  points  of  view,  and  never  for 
denunciation,  in  their  solution. 

The  American  attitude  which  says  "Come  let  us  rea- 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  77 

son  together,"  expressed  in  the  old  Yankee,  "I  want 
to  know,"  and  modernized  into,  "You'll  have  to  show 
me,"  is  the  true  political  attitude.  This  is  the  normal 
attitude  in  which  acquainted  citizens  will  face  the  to- 
gether-problems of  government  when  the  one  political 
organization  of  the  whole  citizenship  is  seen  for  what  it 
is,  the  common  bond  of  uniting  membership  in  respon- 
sibility which  implies  the  common  union  of  citizens  for 
discussion.  As  citizens  organize  by  neighborhoods,  using 
the  schoolhouses  both  for  voting  and  for  such  delibera- 
tion together  as  intelligent  voting  presupposes,  the  old 
artificial,  house-divided-against-itself  antagonisms,  weak- 
nesses and  conceits  will  seem  as  weird  and  strange  as 
the  harboring  of  the  caste  divisions  which  curse  India. 

This  is  the  intelligent  way  of  doing  away  with  parties 
and  so  adequately  "answering  to  the  universal  law  of 
necessary  organization,"  to  quote  a  phrase  which  Sena- 
tor Elihu  Root  used  in  his  address  before  the  Chicago 
Republican  Convention.  This  is  the  simple  and  practical 
way  of  making  forever  impossible  a  repetition  of  that 
national  disgrace  of  1912  which  came  through  our  leav- 
ing to  private  groups  our  public  business  of  calmly  con- 
sidering together  the  qualifications  of  candidates  for 
our  employment. 

With  the  ballot-box  in  each  community,  binding  the 
one  organization  of  the  electorate  together  as  aldermen 
are  bound  together  by  their  responsibility  for  voting,  and 
with  the  schoolhouse  inviting  use  as  a  headquarters  of 
the  citizenship  as  the  city  hall  invites  the  use  by  the 
aldermen  for  their  all-inclusive  organization  for  deliber- 
ation, the  means  are  at  hand,  and  surely  the  time  is 
ripe  for  emancipation  from  the  enslaving,  separating 
false  loyalties  to  parties,  and  for  realizing  ourselves  as 
one  political  whole.  Surely  the  together-business  of  our 


78  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

associated  life  has  long  enough  been  the  sport  of  irre- 
sponsible private  groups. 

And,  yet,  men  talk  of  a  realignment  of  parties,  the 
old  division  between  Republican  and  Democrat  having 
become  entirely  meaningless.  Suppose  new  parties  are 
formed  on  the  issues  of  to-day.  These  particular  issues 
which  grow  out  of  our  present  situation  will  be  passed 
in  a  few  years.  Meanwhile,  these  issues  cannot  be  in- 
telligently decided  except  by  conference.  Suppose  there 
be  such  a  line-up  as  progressive  versus  conservative. 
Obviously,  this  will  bring  confusion  in  a  little  while, 
when  the  older  men  in  years  and  spirit,  who  would  now 
form  the  conservative  party  shall  have  died,  and  the 
younger  men  shall  have  become  old  and  conservative. 

But  how  about  such  a  radical  difference  as  that  be- 
tween socialists  and  the  defendants  of  capitalism  ?  Is  not 
this  an  irrepressible  conflict?  Let  us  see. 

Walter  Rauschenbusch,  than  whom  there  is  no  clearer 
eyed  student  of  social  conditions  in  America,  says :  "No 
preventives  against  the  formation  of  social  classes 
written  in  a  paper  constitution  can  long  save  us  from 
the  iron  wedge  which  capitalism  drives  through  society. 
The  existence  of  two  distinct  classes  is  inherent  in  the 
nature  of  capitalistic  organization  of  industry,  and  essen- 
tial to  its  very  existence." 

Grant  the  truth  of  Dr.  Rauschenbusch's  statement,  and 
supplement  it  by  that  of  the  late  Senator  Hanna  or 
that  of  President  Taft,  that  the  next  issue  is  the  present 
system  versus  socialism. 

What  about  it? 

The  point  is  not  whether  there  is  a  vital  and  real 
difference  here,  but  simply — How  shall  this  difference 
be  adjusted?  The  one  question  is — How  shall  this  prob- 
lem be  solved?  There  are  two  possible  methods  and 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  79 

only  two.  One  is  by  the  use  of  bombs;  the  other  is  by 
the  use  of  brains.  One  is  by  dynamite;  the  other  is 
by  debate. 

It  is  exactly  the  same  question  that  lay  before  the 
colonies  in  the  other  critical  period  of  American  history. 
Should  they  use  their  differences  as  occasion  for  using 
their  heads  or  losing  their  heads.  Should  they  build 
the  timber  of  their  clash  of  interest  into  a  barricade  or 
into  a  bridge.  Should  they  harbor  the  wedge,  or  forge 
it  into  a  link?  Should  they  separate  and  hate  and  fear 
and  fight  over  the  difference  or  should  they  get  to- 
gether and  talk  over  the  difference?  Should  they  use 
those  problems  as  the  means  of  flinging  them  apart  in 
the  weakness  of  mutual  hostility,  which  might  be  the 
means  of  bringing  them  together  and  developing  their 
power  and  intelligence? 

The  great  problem  of  our  century  is  whether  we 
have  sense  enough  to  use  this  difference  of  ours  as  a 
means  of  developing  our  intelligence,  instead  of  using  it 
as  the  occasion  of  developing  our  animosity,  and  so 
setting  us  and  our  children  back  a  hundred,  or  a  thou- 
sand years.  It  is  not  a  test  of  the  strength  of  a  paper 
constitution.  It  is  a  test  of  our  common  sense. 

On  the  same  page  *  on  which  Dr.  Rauschenbusch 
writes  the  statement  quoted  above,  he  says :  'The  very 
fact  that  we  can  feel  our  social  wrongs  so  keenly  and 
discuss  them  calmly  and  without  fear  of  social  hatred,  is 
one  of  the  highest  tributes  paid  our  age." 

The  question  is  simply  whether  we  have  grown  up 
enough  to  deserve  the  tribute,  whether  we  are  men 
enough  to  use  the  human  political  method  of  discussion 
together  on  a  common  ground,  or  whether  we  are  still 

*  "Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,"  p.  220. 


•8o  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

capable  only  of  the  brutal  party  method  of  division  and 
separating  contest. 

There  is  proof  absolutely  conclusive,  that  the  answer 
lies  in  simply  establishing  the  means,  the  apparatus,  the 
machinery,  the  place,  whereby  and  wherein  orderly  dis- 
cussion may  be  carried  on,  organized  debate  held,  argu- 
ments from  various  sides  spoken  and  listened  to.  The 
way  is  to-day,  as  it  was  in  the  other  critical  period, 
simply  in  the  establishment  of  a  common  ground  of 
orderly  presentation  and  discussion.  Then,  it  was  for 
the  settlement  of  differences  between  commonwealths; 
to-day,  it  is  for  the  settlement  of  differences  between 
individuals.  Then,  the  answer  lay  in  union  of  the  states 
to  administer  the  common  enterprise*.  To-day,  the  an- 
swer lies  in  the  association  of  men,  not  "head-on"  either 
in  sentimental  brotherhood  attraction,  nor  in  brute  con- 
test, but  shoulder  to  shoulder  to  engage  in  the  common 
enterprise  of  together  facing  specific  public  questions 
as  they  arise  and  of  studying  out  the  answers. 

Kipling  may  or  may  not  have  been  right  when  he  said : 

But  there  is  neither  East  nor  West, 

Border,  nor  breed,  nor  birth, 

When  two  strong  men  stand  face  to  face. 

But  certain  it  is  that,  there  is  neither  party  conceit, 
nor  animosity,  when  neighbors  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder 
to  work  out  the  problems  of  the  community  welfare, 
the  problems  of  America's  making  good. 

Take  one  instance  from  Los  Angeles. 

It  was  just  after  the  McNamara  confession.  The 
whole  city  was  tense  and  throbbing  with  the  pain  of 
its  fresh  cleavage.  Denunciation,  hostility,  the  blood- 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  8l 

lust  that  is  bred  of  fear  were  in  the  air.  One  group 
of  men  were  shouting  on  street  corners  or  in  the  news- 
papers that  their  neighbors,  who  belonged  to  the  "Good 
Government  Party,"  were  parasites,  hypocrites,  blood- 
suckers. The  members  of  the  other  faction  were  scream- 
ing that  their  neighbors,  who  happened  to  belong  to 
the  Socialist  Party,  were  aiming  to  make  every  home  in 
Los  Angeles  a  brothel. 

In  the  midst  of  this  bedlam  the  neighboring  citizens 
who  lived  in  the  district  about  the  Polytechnic  High 
School,  gathered  in  that  building  and  formed  a  delibera- 
tive association.  There  were  socialists  among  them,  and 
anti-socialists;  but  there,  they  were  neighbors  gathered 
to  get  at  the  facts.  By  this  body,  the  two  leading  candi- 
dates were  invited  to  come  and  tell  why  each  thought  that 
he  should  be  employed  as  mayor.  Mr.  Alexander,  who 
is  himself  neither  a  fire  eater  nor  spell-binder,  sent  a 
man  to  advocate  his  appointment  who  would  be  able  to 
do  the  Bosco  act  and  "eat  'em  alive,"  his  neighbors  who 
happened  to  approve  of  Mr.  Harriman  being  the  snakes. 
Mr.  Harriman  came  in  person.  In  the  audience  were  a 
few  violent  partisans  of  each  sort,  but  as  is  always  the 
case  in  such  an  assemblage,  the  majority  were  people 
who  wanted  to  learn,  and  who  were  seeking  not  blood 
but  information.  Each  of  the  candidates  was  a  guest, 
and  these  neighboring  citizens  were  hosts.  The  element 
of  "politeness"  which  is  from  the  same  root  as  politics, 
and  is  the  mark  of  the  true  political  spirit,  was  there, 
of  course.  If  either  candidate  talked  anything  but  sense, 
if  either  resorted  to  foolish  denunciation,  the  other  was 
on  hand  to  point  out  the  weakness  of  his  position,  and 
the  audience  was  there  to  see  it.  The  meeting  was  in- 
teresting and  enjoyable  as  well  as  educational. 

The  discussion  centered  on  practical  specific  questions 


82  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it  in  promoting  the  city's 
welfare,  such  matters  as  the  harbor  proposition,  the 
water  supply  proposal,  the  project  of  furnishing  whole- 
some recreation  opportunities.  There  was  a  perfectly 
natural  absence  of  animosity  and  bitterness,  because 
people  were  using  their  energy  in  trying  to  understand 
problems,  and  energy  cannot  be  used  for  thinking  and 
for  hating  at  the  same  time.  The  discovery  was  made, 
the  very  important  discovery,  by  everybody  present,  in- 
cluding the  members  of  each  group,  that  everybody,  in- 
cluding the  members  of  the  other  group,  was  a  human 
being  and  a  neighbor,  and  all  the  "thief,"  and  "traitor" 
and  "enemy"  talk  and  attitude  which  had  been  induced 
by  the  darkness  of  separation  disappeared  like  the  wild 
fear  and  blind  fighting  of  the  night  when  the  light 
breaks  through. 

One  of  the  men  who  attended  that  meeting  said: 
"This  common-ground  of  neighborly  discussion  seemed 
like  an  island  in  the  midst  of  an  angry  sea,  like  a  lucid 
interval  in  the  midst  of  delirium.  It  seemed  like  magic." 

But  there  was  nothing  magical  about  it.  It  was  ex- 
actly the  same  experience  which  the  warring  and  hostile 
commonwealths  had,  when,  in  the  midst  of  their  bitter 
hostility,  the  opportunity  for  orderly  discussion  of  the 
matters  over  which  they  had  been  divided  was  created, 
and  the  Goddess  of  Discord  was  dethroned  merely  by 
establishing  a  standing  ground  for  common-sense. 

The  situation  in  Los  Angeles  was  one  in  which  the 
disease  of  partition  had  become  acute.  The  fracture, 
the  cleavage  between  the  separated  sections  of  the 
body  of  the  citizenship  had  become  inflamed.  The  mal- 
ady had  proceeded  to  a  painful  stage.  Yet,  just  as  soon 
as  the  common  forum  for  orderly  discussion  was  co- 
ordinated, and  men  and  women  gathered  as  neighboring 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  83 

members  of  the  one  political  organization  of  the  citizen- 
ship, health  and  sanity  returned. 

Suppose,  however,  that  instead  of  waiting  until  the 
community  had  reached  that  condition,  the  people  had 
organized  for  neighborly  deliberation,  not  in  this  one 
district  alone,  but  in  each  district  of  the  city  of  Los 
Angeles,  and  suppose  that  they  had  been  gathering  not 
as  members  of  parties  but  as  members  of  the  whole 
common  organization  whose  responsibility  it  is  to  solve 
the  problems,  to  select  the  servants,  to  agree  upon  the 
rules  and  to  devise  the  cooperations  of  civic  association. 
Suppose  that,  with  the  service  of  a  civic  secretary  in 
each  neighborhood,  and  the  coordinating  service  of  a 
general  secretary  of  the  federation  of  neighborhood  as- 
sociations, the  members  of  that  good  town  had  been 
assembling  to  develop  the  resources  of  democracy  and 
neighborship,  the  resources  in  acquaintance  and  breadth 
of  understanding;  the  questions  as  to  what  to  do  and 
how  to  do  it  would  have  come  along  in  an  orderly  suc- 
cession, and  the  selection  of  servants  and  presiding  offi- 
cers, each  on  his  merits,  would  have  furnished  no  occa- 
sion for  public  madness. 

There  may  be  a  certain  childish  pleasure  in  dressing 
up,  putting  on  oilcloth  capes  and  funny  hats  and  march- 
ing down  the  street  behind  a  band  with  ill-smelling 
torches  on  the  end  of  sticks,  in  hand.  The  pleasure 
coming  to  each  one  probably  is  the  fact  that  a  lot  of 
other  people  are  doing  the  same  foolish  thing  at  the  same 
time.  And  there  is,  no  doubt,  a  certain  weird  pleasure  in 
playing  at  being  scared  by  bogies,  and  in  rough-house 
actions,  just  as  there  is  in  getting  drunk  and  beating 
one's  wife.  But,  men  and  women,  with  the  problem  of  a 
community's  welfare  on  their  hands,  with  all  that  this 
involves,  for  the  present  and  the  future,  should  not  take 


84  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

time  for  these  immature  and  brute  indulgences  before 
election,  when  they  have  the  serious  business  of  deciding 
public  questions  before  them.  Business  before  pleasure. 
If  the  citizens  of  the  town  or  the  nation  must  go  on  a 
debauch,  they  should  wait  until  after  election. 

Is  there  reason  for  the  separate  existence  of  the  Re- 
publican party  or  the  Democratic  party?  Only  if  the 
people  of  this  country  desire  to  continue  to  suffer  from 
the  rule  of  the  enemies  of  the  common  good  in  the  con- 
tinued demonstration  of  the  principle  that  Napoleon 
spoke  :  "Divide  and  Dominate/' 

As  Washington  said  of  the  ('common  and  continued 
mischiefs  of  the  spirit  of  party" :  "It  serves  always  to 
distract  the  public  councils  and  enfeeble  the  public  ad- 
ministration. It  agitates  the  community  with  ill-founded 
jealousies  and  false  alarms ;  kindles  the  animosity  of  one 
part  against  another;  foments  occasionally  riot  and  in- 
surrection." Then,  Washington  pointed  across  the  sea 
to  the  hostile  force,  as  though  the  enemy  of  the  democ- 
racy were  to  come  from  abroad,  and  he  said  of  this 
party  division :  "It  opens  the  doors  to  foreign  influence 
and  corruption,  which  find  a  facilitated  access  to  the 
government  itself  through  the  channels  of  party  pas- 
sions." Washington  was  wrong  as  to  the  source  of 
danger.  The  great  corporation  interests  had  not  yet 
appeared.  But,  the  rule  of  selfish,  exploiting  influence 
and  corruption  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  whether  it 
comes  from  outside  or  from  within,  and  this  enemy  of 
our  welfare  finds  "a  facilitated  access  to  the  government 
itself"  through  exactly  the  same  channels  as  would  the 
common  danger  from  without. 

Is  there  reason  for  the  formation  and  continued  sepa- 
rate existence  of  the  socialist  party?  Not  if  the  members 
of  it  desire  the  progress  of  socialism.  Go  back  to  Los 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  85 

Angeles.  At  that  same  election,  in  which  the  socialist 
party  was  defeated,  a  most  important  practical  question 
was  decided  as  the  socialist  would  have  it  decided.  The 
city  voted  to  inaugurate  the  publication  of  a  municipal 
newspaper.  If  this  socialistic  proposal  had  come  from  a 
party  socialist,  if  it  had  been  known  and  advanced  as  a 
socialist  party  measure,  and  had  been  wedged  in  with 
a  lot  of  other  planks  in  a  socialist  party  platform,  it 
would  have  been  defeated.  Being  presented  as  a  distinct 
proposition,  to  be  decided  on  its  merits,  it  was  indorsed. 
The  same  truth  that  people  do  not  want  to  vote  on 
"isms,"  either  capitalism  or  socialism,  but  may  be  counted 
on  to  act  with  intelligence,  even  with  the  boiler-shop 
racket  and  hubbub  going  on  which  now  precedes  elec- 
tions, when  practical  specific  propositions  are  presented, 
is  illustrated  in  the  election  at  Milwaukee,  in  which, 
while  the  socialist  party  was  defeated,  a  most  important 
measure  which  any  intelligent  socialist  would  advocate, 
carried,  namely,  the  proposal  that  the  people  invest 
eighty-eight  thousand  dollars  to  develop  the  civic,  social, 
and  recreational  resources  inherent  in  the  orderly  wider 
use  of  existing  public  property.  If  this  socialistic  pro- 
posal had  gone  before  the  people  as  a  socialist  party 
measure,  it  would  have  been  defeated  with  the  party. 

The  same  practical  fact,  that  excellent  propositions, 
when  tangled  up  with  partisan  promotion,  are  so  blurred 
and  discolored  thereby  as  to  be  killed  when,  if  they  were 
considered  simply  on  their  merits,  they  would  be  wel- 
comed, is  illustrated  by  the  fate  of  the  children's  bureau 
in  Milwaukee.  Started  under  the  socialists,  it  was  throt- 
tled by  the  succeeding  partisans,  not  because  it  was  not 
a  most  desirable  institution,  but  because  it  had  been  es- 
tablished by  party  socialists.  It  is  inconceivable  that, 
if  this  bureau  had  been  established  as  a  result  of  the  de- 
7 


86  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

cision  of  the  citizens  of  Milwaukee,  arrived  at  through 
their  orderly  discussion  of  the  common  welfare  as  mem- 
bers of  the  all-inclusive  association  of  that  city,  any  serv- 
ants that  they  might  choose  to  administer  their  common 
business  would  presume  to  destroy  this  intelligent  means 
of  their  community  self-service.  In  the  state  legislature 
of  Wisconsin,  as  well  as  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  it 
has  been  demonstrated  over  and  over  again  that  good 
measures  have  failed  of  success,  simply  because  they 
came  as  socialist  party  propositions.  The  writer  has 
heard,  regarding  a  dozen  proposals :  "That  is  certainly 
a  good  measure.  No  doubt  about  it.  And  I  would  be 
for  it,  if  it  were  not  that  it  has  the  backing  of  the  so- 
cialist party."  Indeed,  in  practice  the  socialist  admin- 
istration in  Milwaukee  recognized  that  party  backing  is 
harmful,  in  such  enterprises  as  the  institution  of  a  "sane 
celebration"  of  the  Fourth  of  July  for  the  city,  and  in 
the  beginning  of  the  substitution  of  wholesome,  well- 
supervised  municipal  dances,  in  place  of  the  Saturday 
night  dissipations  which  had  been  "run"  for  commercial 
gain  in  that  city. 

In  entering  upon  both  these  public  enterprises,  as  in 
others,  the  people  who  advocated  them  tried  by  all 
means  to  have  them  considered  and  taken  up  as  meas- 
ures to  be  judged  on  their  merits,  and  without  their 
harmful  and  distracting  consideration  as  party  measures. 
It  is  perfectly  obvious  that  if  Mr.  Roosevelt  had  advo- 
cated the  withdrawal  of  the  public  lands,  or  the  national 
irrigation  projects,  or  the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
as  socialist  party  projects,  each  of  these  socialistic  pro- 
posals would  have  been  defeated.  If  men  or  women  are 
sincere  in  desiring  to  hasten  the  substitution  of  orderly 
cooperation  for  disorderly  and  wasteful  competition,  they 
will  not  "queer"  specific  proposals  of  cooperation  by 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  87 

putting  them  forth  as  prejudice-awakening  party  meas- 
ures. One  of  the  men  who  is  doing  as  much  as  any 
man  in  America  to  bring  order  out  of  the  present  social 
chaos  said :  "I  would  fight  like  a  tiger  against  being 
labeled  a  party  socialist,  not  because  I  do  not  agree  with 
socialist  principles,  but  because  I  am  so  tremendously 
impatient  to  get  things  done.  The  worst  obstacle  to  the 
advance  of  practical  democratic  cooperation  is  party." 

Is  there  reason  for  the  formation  and  separate  exist- 
ence of  a  capitalist  party?  Not  if  the  advocates  of  con- 
servatism desire  cautious,  all-considering  procedure,  and 
the  prevention  of  hasty  and  impulsive  action.  As  Bage- 
hot  says :  *  "If  you  want  to  stop  instant  and  immediate 
action,  always  make  it  a  condition  that  the  action  shall 
not  begin  till  a  considerable  number  of  persons  have 
talked  it  over  and  agreed  upon  it.  If  those  people  be  of 
different  temperaments,  different  ideas,  and  different 
educations,  you  have  an  infallible  security  that  nothing, 
or  almost  nothing,  will  be  done  with  excessive  rapidity. 
Each  kind  of  persons  will  have  their  spokesman;  each 
spokesman  will  have  his  characteristic  objection,  and 
each  his  counter  proposition."  Mr.  Bagehot  then  gives 
a  list  of  the  sorts  of  men  who  oppose  the  establishment 
of  a  fundamental  polity  of  common  all-sided  discussion 
in  place  of  party  division.  The  intelligent  conservative 
is  not  in  the  list.  He  points  out  the  fact  that  the  chief 
objection  to  this  method  of  taking  up  matters  and  dis- 
cussing them  simply  on  their  merits,  would  come  from 
the  man  who  desires  the  rule  of  the  military  dictator,  who 
would  have  men  not  think,  but  obey.  Then  he  says :  "All 
these  invectives  are  perpetual  and  many-sided ;  they  come 
from  philosophers,  each  of  whom  wants  some  new 

*  Physics  and  Politics,  p.  193. 


88  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

scheme  tried;  from  philanthropists,  who  want  some  evil 
abated;  from  revolutionists,  who  want  some  old  institu- 
tion destroyed;  from  new  aerists,  who  want  their  new 
aera  started  forthwith.  And  they  all  are  distinct  admis- 
sions that  a  polity  of  discussion  is  the  greatest  hin- 
drance to  the  inherited  mistake  of  human  nature,  to  the 
desire  to  act  promptly,  which  in  a  simple  (i.  e.  a  mili- 
tary) age  is  so  excellent,  but  which  in  a  later  and  com- 
plex time  leads  to  so  much  evil."  Let  a  proposition  come 
before  the  people  with  the  endorsement  and  backing  of 
a  capitalist  party  and  it  would  be  handicapped, 
"queered,"  prejudged,  that  is,  it  would  be  denied  reason- 
able consideration  in  just  the  same  way  as  if  it  came  as 
a  socialist  party  measure. 

The  perfectly  simple,  rational  solution  of  the  whole 
problem,  is  in  the  common  organization  of  the  citizenship 
as  a  whole  to  deliberate  upon  public  questions,  unham- 
pered by  party  bias  or  distractions.  The  intelligent  pro- 
cedure is  simply  to  use  the  one  existing  political  organi- 
zation of  the  whole  citizenship  for  getting  together  to 
discuss  the  problems  of  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it  that 
the  welfare  of  all,  and  so  of  each,  may  be  conserved  and 
advanced.  The  answer  lies  in  the  coordination  of  the 
common  institution,  wherein  proposed  rules  of  our  life 
together  may  be  considered  and  agreed  upon,  wherein 
the  qualifications  of  applicants  for  engagement  in  the 
public  service  may  be  learned,  wherein  the  desirability 
of  proposed  cooperations  may  be  discussed. 

This  means  the  elimination  of  the  clanger  from  the 
"men  of  the  deed,"  whether  violent  I.  W.  W.  or  violent 
"Merchants  and  Manufacturers."  It  means  the  elimi- 
nation of  the  whole  brutal  force  to  settle  disputes  which 
make  the  names  Homestead,  Cripple  Creek,  Seattle,  Law- 
rence, and  San  Diego  connote  senseless  barbarity. 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  89 

In  each  of  these  cases,  as  in  every  case  of  human  dis- 
agreement, the  object  has  been,  on  the  part  of  one  set 
of  people,  to  get  ideas  into  the  heads  of  another  set  of 
people.  The  normal  and  natural  channel  for  the  en- 
trance of  ideas  is  through  the  ears,  and  the  eyes.  When, 
for  any  reason,  these  usual  entrances  are  not  accessible, 
then,  and  then  only  do  those  who  have  ideas  that  they 
feel  must  be  gotten  into  the  heads  of  other  folks,  attempt 
to  get  them  in  through  the  skull.  Sometimes  the  eyes 
and  ears  are  closed.  Sometimes  the  room  inside  is  jam 
full  about  the  entrances.  It  is  like  the  occasion  at  Caper- 
naum when  the  house  was  crowded.  The  four  men  who 
felt  that  they  must  make  an  entrance,  that  it  was  a  case 
of  life  and  death,  climbed  up  and  made  an  opening  in 
the  roof,  and  let  their  burden  down  through  the  hole. 
They  would  not  have  done  it  if  they  could  have  gotten 
in  in  the  usual  way.  The  organization  of  the  citizen- 
ship to  use  the  schoolhouses  as  deliberation  centers  is 
the  simple  method  by  which  the  use  of  ears  and  eyes 
may  be  arranged  for  in  an  orderly  manner  for  the  trans- 
mission of  ideas  regarding  public  matters,  and  by  which 
tongues  may  be  used  instead  of  teeth  to  indicate  what 
has  happened  to  the  various  ideas  when  they  have  gotten 
inside. 

This  means  the  elimination  of  the  threat  of  the  "man 
on  horseback."  The  leadership  impulse,  like  the  let's- 
change-things-and-have-'em-different  impulse,  the  spirit 
of  tyranny,  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  revolution,  is  simply 
a  manifestation  of  a  perfectly  normal  element  in  human 
society.  It  is  like  gasoline  in  its  potentiality  for  de- 
struction or  for  beneficial  service,  depending  upon  the 
machinery  in  which  its  power  is  directed  and  controlled. 
If  the  gasoline  is  simply  touched  off  "promiscuous,"  not 
only  is  damage  done,  but  energy  is  lost.  If  the  same 


90  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

gasoline  is  put  into  a  tank  and  conducted  in  an  orderly 
manner  to  the  carburetor,  where  the  proper  mixture 
with  air  is  made,  and  then  is  moved  to  express  itself  by 
just  the  right  sort  of  friction,  and  finds  opportunity  for 
its  expression  in  ordered  explosions  against  the  pistons 
in  the  cylinder,  then,  gasoline  nature  has  not  changed; 
but,  instead  of  smashing  things  and  wasting  its  energy, 
it  drives  the  automobile  up  the  hill.  Now,  if  Colonel 
Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Debs,  General  Otis  and  Miss  Gold- 
man, Mr.  Baer  and  Mr.  Haywood,  Congressman  Berger 
and  Judge  Hanford  all  lived  in  the  same  district  and 
belonged  to  the  same  neighborhood  citizens'  association 
and  met  in  the  same  schoolhouse  for  deliberation  upon 
public  questions,  it  is  possible  that  even  though  the  presi- 
dent of  the  club  were  a  worthy  chairman,  and  even 
though  there  would  be  opportunity  for  the  explosive 
gasoline  to  mix  with  a  reasonable  amount  of  common- 
folks  air,  it  might  be  that  the  mixture  would  be  a  little 
"rich,"  but,  at  the  worst,  it  would  mean  only  sooting 
the  spark-plug,  a  smoky  exhaust,  and  harmless  explo- 
sions in  the  muffler. 

Without  this  coordination  of  a  machine  for  orderly 
use  of  the  driving  forces  in  society,  we  are  always  in 
the  anomalous  and  contradictory  position  of  bemoaning 
the  lack  of  public  interest  on  the  part  of  our  fellow  citi- 
zens, and  then,  when  any  manifestation  of  a  large  endow- 
ment of  public  interest  is  given,  getting  scared,  and  try- 
ing to  turn  the  hose  on  it  and  put  it  out. 

Common  citizenship  organization  to  make  selections 
of  public  servants  and  to  handle  intelligently  the  pre- 
liminary business  which  has  been  done  by  irresponsible 
and  self-appointed  individuals  and  parties,  does  away  at 
a  stroke  with  the  whole  pauperizing  or  corrupting  use 
of  private  money  in  pre-election  campaigns.  When  the 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  91 

schoolhouses  in  the  districts  are  used  as  headquarters 
for  the  neighborhood  branches  of  the  single  political 
organization  for  deliberation,  and  the  city  or  town  audi- 
torium is  used  for  meetings  held  under  the  auspices  of 
the  city  or  town  association,  organized  as  a  voters' 
league,  then  the  private  rental  of  halls  and  the  adver- 
tising expense  are  cut  out.  There  is  no  place  whatever 
for  the  corrupt-practice-inducing  use  of  private  money, 
except  for  car-fare  of  the  various  candidates  who  are  in- 
vited by  their  prospective  employing  body  to  speak  be- 
fore it.  The  candidate  who  is  embarrassed  by  posses- 
sion of  much  property  has  not  the  slightest  advantage 
over  the  candidate  who,  like  Lincoln,  is  relieved  of  that 
impediment.  At  present,  when  volunteer  party  bodies, 
or  self-seeking  individuals  pay  these  properly  public  ex- 
penses of  hall-hire,  et  cetera,  for  the  presentation  of 
views  upon  public  questions,  they  either  do  it  because 
they  expect  to  get  it  back  with  interest,  or  they  do  it 
as  a  charity.  The  one  means  public  robbery,  the  other 
public  pauperism. 

The  use  of  the  schoolhouses  as  the  neighborhood 
headquarters  of  the  all-inclusive  organization  of  the  citi- 
zenship, the  one  political  organization,  not  only  for  vot- 
ing, but  for  the  preliminary  business  of  selecting  and 
considering  the  qualifications  of  various  men  for  service, 
and  the  desirability  of  various  courses  of  procedure  in 
adopting  rules  and  devising  cooperations,  means  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  political  convention  advantages,  without 
the  evils  that  rose  out  of  its  partisan  and  exclusive  pri- 
vate character,  and  means  securing  the  advantages  of 
the  direct  primary  method  without  the  obvious  evils 
which  arise  from  its  partisan  character. 

In  those  parts  of  the  country  where  the  convention 
system  has  been  abandoned,  many  of  the  older  men 


92  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

claim  that  the  grade  of  public  servants  or  representa- 
tives is  lower  than  in  the  old  days  of  the  party  conven- 
tion. Whether  this  is  so  or  not,  there  is  obvious  reason 
why  it  should  be  so.  The  present  "button-hole"  method 
by  which  the  individual  gets  himself  before  the  people, 
certainly  tends  to  select  only  those  men  for  office  who 
seek  office.  There  is  no  means  whereby  the  people  of 
a  community  may  become  acquainted  with  the  capacities 
of  their  fellow  citizen  for  deciding  public  questions.  The 
old  party  convention  system  is  well  discarded,  but  this 
virtue  of  convening  to  discuss  public  questions,  whereby 
the  resources  in  leadership  of  the  men  who  do  not  push 
themselves  forward  may  be  learned,  cannot  be  spared. 
The  experiment  with  the  party  primary  method  has 
demonstrated  that  the  average  man  is  not  a  partisan. 
Usually  far  less  than  half  the  voters  participate  in  party 
primaries.  It  has  proved  a  means  of  confusion,  even  on 
the  part  of  those  who  have  participated.  The  results  in 
the  recent  party  primaries  in  Massachusetts  and  Mary- 
land were  stupidly  illogical.  The  use  of  the  party  pri- 
mary method  has  not  reduced  the  amount  of  money  used 
in  primary  campaigns,  but  with  this  method  the  corrup- 
tion funds  have  been  enormously  increased.  The  party 
primaries  have  been  the  occasion  of  disgraceful  vituper- 
ation and  clap-trap.  And  everywhere  the  practice  is 
common  of  partisans  of  one  stripe  going  into  the  pri- 
maries of  the  other  party  and  voting  for  the  worst  and 
weakest  candidate  for  public  office,  deliberately  endan- 
gering the  common  welfare,  that  their  party  may  have  a 
better  chance  of  winning. 

The  evils  of  the  party  convention  system  and  the  evils 
of  the  party  direct  primary  system  are  simply  the  evils 
of  party  division.  The  solution  lies  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  permanent  convention  system,  which,  in- 


POLITICAL   ORGANIZATION  93 

eluding  the  whole  citizenship,  has  as  its  function  not 
only,  as  now,  the  final  decision,  but  also  the  preliminary 
or  primary  deliberation  and  selection  of  men  and 
measures. 

This  use  of  the  schoolhouses  as  the  centers  of  the  all- 
inclusive  conscious  organization  of  the  citizenship  means 
the  coordination  of  the  single  political  machine,  which 
is  necessary  if  democracy  is  to  "democ." 

The  antipathy  to  "machine"  politics  has  been  due  to 
the  fact  that  on  account  of  the  lack  of  the  single  machine 
of  democracy,  private  groups  have  formed  to  control 
sources  of  information,  or  the  actions  of  the  public's 
servants.  The  hero  has  been  the  man  who  has  "broken 
up  the  machine,"  usually  by  constructing  another,  simi- 
lar in  the  fact  that  it  also  was  private.  But  a  machine 
is  necessary.  The  machine  was  profitable  to  the  men 
who  controlled  it.  The  political  machine  created  by  the 
organization  of  the  citizenship  for  the  use  of  the  school- 
house  as  the  common  political  headquarters  means  the 
coordination  not  only  of  a  machine  whereby  all  men 
may  work  together  for  good,  but  it  means  the  assem- 
bling of  a  machine  by  which  all  men  may  so  control  their 
servants  or  agents  that  they  shall  work  for  the  together- 
good. 

Suppose  that  the  citizens  of  this  and  other  communi- 
ties are  organized,  not  split  up  into  rival  fragments,  but 
organized  into  a  common  association,  with  the  mem- 
bership easily  mobilized  and  frequently  gathering  in 
the, common  neighborhood  centers.  If  a  man  wants  an 
office,  how  shall  he  get  it?  Shall  he  go  to  the  machine? 
He  must.  Suppose  a  man  in  office  objects  to  carrying 
out  the  will  of  his  employers.  He  is  invited  to  come  and 
talk  over  the  matter  with  his  employers.  He  will  not 
refuse ;  but  suppose  he  does.  The  company  whose  serv- 


94  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ant  he  is  decides  in  conference  that  they  made  a  mistake 
in  his  selection.  There  is  no  bother  about  it. 

The  social  center  is  the  simple  political  machine,  and 
it  is  as  powerful  as  it  is  simple.  The  declaration  with 
which  we  started  out  says  that  a  government  derives 
its  just  power  "from  the  consent  of  the  governed."  The 
power  of  our  government  in  so  far  as  it  is  "just"  comes 
from  the  consent  of  the  citizens.  Pick  up  a  newspaper 
and  see  a  cartoon  representing  the  "citizen."  How 
familiar  he  is,  an  absurd  little,  thin-necked  nincompoop, 
with  worried  side-burns  and  increasing  bald  spot,  won- 
dering how  he'll  get  his  tribute  paid,  his  tribute  for  be- 
ing allowed  to  live,  and  fearful  of  what  is  going  to  be 
done  to  him  next.  Is  he  the  source  of  power  of  this 
government  ?  "The  consent  of  the  governed !"  "Con- 
sent" means  together-feeling.  That  is  the  source  of 
power,  and  the  only  source  of  power.  To-day  the  only 
driving  force  of  the  government  comes  from  the  ballot 
boxes  whereto  once  in  so  often  the  citizens  of  the  neigh- 
borhood go,  each  by  himself,  one  at  a  time,  alone. 

A  man  visited  an  insane  asylum.  He  came  into  a 
ward  where  forty  insane  people  were  sitting  about  the 
room.  He  found  only  one  man  in  charge.  Seeing  the 
lowering  expressions  on  the  faces  of  some  of  them,  he 
exclaimed  in  a  startled  whisper  to  the  keeper:  "Great 
heavens,  man!  I  should  think  you  would  be  scared  to 
death  to  be  in  this  room  with  all  these  maniacs.  Suppose 
they  should  get  the  idea  of  taking  you  apart  like  a 
watch  to  see  why  you  tick.  What  would  you  do?" 

The  keeper  smiled.  "There  is  not  the  slightest  dan- 
ger," he  answered.  "If  one  of  them  started  anything, 
all  the  rest  would  stop  what  they  are  doing  and  look  at 
him.  It  would  never  be  more  than  one  at  a  time.  They 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  95 

have  no  power.    You  see  they  are  crazy.    They  can't  act 
together." 

The  American  citizens  are  not  crazy.  They  can  act 
together.  The  intelligence  that  we  as  a  people  have 
shown  in  uniting  to  build  these  common  buildings  in 
every  neighborhood  will  show  itself  in  our  uniting  to 
use  them,  and  these  assembling  places  for  orderly  deliber- 
ation as  well  as  for  decision  will  prove  the  efficient  source 
of  power  adequate,  for  they  will  be  the  places  of  the 
"consent,"  the  together-feeling  of  the  governing. 


CHAPTER   V 

LIKE  HOME 

"This  is  going  to  make  the  neighborhood  feel  like 
home — in  spite  of  telephones,  newspapers,  trolley  cars 
and  all  the  modern  improvements." 

He  was  a  banker  who  spoke,  and  the  occasion  was  the 
opening  of  a  school  building  as  a  citizenship  headquar- 
ters, a  neighborhood  civic  club  house,  in  a  middle 
western  city. 

"When  I  was  a  young  man,"  he  went  on,  "back  in 
Licking  County,  Ohio,  folks  used  to  meet  like  this  in  the 
old  drab,  weatherboard  schoolhouse.  We  called  it  the 
'Literary';  in  some  places  they  called  it  the  'Lyceum,' 
and  in  some  it  was  just  'schoolhouse  meetin's.'  The  old 
double  seats  weren't  any  too  comfortable ;  the  light  from 
the  kerosene  lamps,  with  their  tin  reflectors,  wasn't  any 
too  good;  but  there  was  a  human  spirit  in  those  gather- 
ings, a  man-to-man  frankness  and  democracy  that  made 
America  mean  something.  There  was  the  spirit  of  neigh- 
borhood there — not  only  in  the  sociables,  the  spelldowns, 
and  singing  school,  but  in  the  meetings  where  folks  just 
listened  to  speakers  and  talked.  Getting  together  about 
things  we  had  in  common,  whether  it  was  what  kind  of 
a  bridge  we  should  have  across  the  creek,  or  the  tariff, 
we  felt  a  first-hand  responsibility  for  being  citizens. 

"I  came  away  to  the  city.  I  got  into  the  scramble. 
I've  been  at  it  as  hard  as  anybody,  and  I've  succeeded 


LIKE  HOME  97 

fairly  well.  But  all  the  time  there  has  been  something 
missing.  I  know  a  lot  of  fine  people,  but  I  don't  know 
my  neighbors.  I  obey  the  laws  and  vote  at  election  time, 
but  somehow  I  don't  get  that  feel  of  being  a  citizen. 
The  fact  is,  I've  lived  here  twenty  years,  and  it  has  never 
felt  like  home.  But  to-night,  when  we're  getting  to- 
gether, not  as  a  party  nor  a  sect,  nor  as  a  particular 
social  set,  but  just  as  folks,  as  citizens,  as  neighbors,  in 
this  building  which  embodies  the  greatest  of  our  common 
interests,  that  old  feeling  comes  back;  and,  as  we  go  on 
with  this — I  tell  you — even  the  city  is  going  to  feel  like 
home!' 

Unlike  any  other  significant  movement  of  modern 
times,  the  gathering  in,  from  every  corner,  of  neighbors, 
to  construct  the  institution  of  the  common  life,  the  head- 
quarters of  democracy;  the  movement  to  make  of  the 
schoolhouse  the  standing  ground  of  our  cooperation, 
appeals  most  strongly  to  the  older,  more  conservative 
American.  There  is  reason  for  this,  because,  two  gen- 
erations ago  in  the  average  community  in  the  middle 
west  and  elsewhere,  the  schoolhouse  was  used,  spon- 
taneously, to  be  sure,  without  planning  or  forethought, 
but  used,  not  only  as  a  center  for  the  education  of  chil- 
dren during  the  day,  but  also  in  the  evening  as  the  place 
of  adult  gathering,  the  center  of  neighborhood. 

Why  this  did  not  continue  was  simply  because  people 
failed  to  grasp  the  community  idea.  The  common 
schoolhouse  began  to  be  turned  over  to  separate  organi- 
zations, partisan,  sectarian,  exclusive,  instead  of  being 
kept  always  and  only  for  the  use  of  the  one  common 
organization  of  the  whole  community.  For  a  time,  how- 
ever, before  there  came  these  divisions  which  could  have 
been  prevented  only  by  the  community  employment  of 
a  servant,  a  neighborhood  secretary  of  the  common  or- 


98  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ganization  of  the  citizenship,  or  the  recognition  of  this 
service  as  one  of  the  regular  functions  of  the  school 
principal,  this  character  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  real 
social  center  lasted.  And  it  lasted  long  enough  to  im- 
press the  memory  of  America. 

Histories  have  to  be  rewritten  continually  as  our 
viewpoint  shifts  from  that  which  regards  military  ex- 
ploits as  important,  to  that  which  emphasizes  constitu- 
tional changes,  then  that  which  looks  for  industrial  de- 
velopment, and  finally  to  that  which  gives  full  recog- 
nition to  the  social  life  of  the  past.  When  an  American 
history  shall  be  written  from  this  intimate  point  of  view, 
it  will  be  recognized  that  nothing  in  our  national  life 
has  done  so  much  to  foster  the  spirit  of  democracy,  of 
spontaneous  community  thought  and  sense  of  solidarity 
as  this  free  association  of  citizens  upon  the  common 
ground  of  civic  interest,  of  acquaintance,  of  neighbor- 
ship in  the  schoolhouse  in  the  early  days. 

The  writer  visited  Salt  Lake  City  and  went  to  the  Tem- 
ple Grounds.  He  was  fortunate  enough  to  find  one  of 
the  pioneers  to  guide  him  about  the  place.  The  old  man 
took  him  through  the  several  buildings,  and  explained 
the  significance  of  each  object  of  interest.  Last,  of 
course,  he  led  him  through  the  Tabernacle,  pointing  out 
its  unobstructed  view,  and  acoustic  perfection.  When, 
finally,  they  stood  at  the  gate,  the  old  guide  said,  "Are 
there  any  questions  you  would  like  to  ask?" 

"There  is  one,"  answered  the  visitor,  "one  that  I 
would  like  to  have  you  answer,  not  as  a  Mormon  to  a 
gentile,  but  just  as  a  man  to  a  man." 

"What  is  it?"  said  the  elder. 

"I'd  like  to  have  you  tell  me  whether  you  folks  are  as 
happy  as  you  used  to  be." 

The  old  man  looked  at  his  questioner. 


LIKE   HOME  99 

"Are  you  referring-  to  plural  marriage?"  he  asked. 

"No,"  said  the  questioner. 

For  a  moment  the  old  man  looked  away  thoughtfully. 
Then  he  said :  "It  is  strange.  In  the  early  days  we 
were  poor.  We  had  to  get  along  not  only  without  lux- 
uries, but  often  without  what  we  now  call  necessities. 
And  yet — we  were  happier  in  those  days.  It  is  queer, 
for  we  thought  if  we  could  have  lands,  and  buildings, 
if  we  could  have  property  and  wealth,  then  we  should 
be  happier.  And  now  we  have  them,  and  we  are  not 
as  happy  as  we  used  to  be.  It's  strange." 

"What  is  the  reason  ?"  asked  the  other. 

"I'll  tell  you  the  reason,"  said  the  elder.  "There  is 
just  one  reason.  It  is  because,  in  the  old  days,  we  felt 
together,  and  now  we  don't.  The  very  things  that  we 
strove  for  have  come  in  to  separate  us  in  our  fellow- 
ship. Then  we  felt  together,  and  the  hardship  and  pov- 
erty didn't  cut  in,  for  we  were  one.  And  now  we  aren't, 
and  our  possessions  don't  make  up  at  all  for  what  we've 
lost." 

Now,  this  old  man  was  speaking  not  only  for  those 
of  us  who  wear  a  denominational  name.  What  he  said 
was  true  of  all  of  us  Americans.  We  have  lost  the  old 
sense  of  unity,  of  neighborship,  which  we  knew  in  the 
simple  early  days.  Our  inventions  and  our  acquisitions 
as  a  people  have  not  added  to  our  happiness  because  we 
no  longer  feel  together.  What  is  the  remedy?  To  go 
back  to  the  simple  conditions  of  the  early  days? 

No.  We  could  not,  if  we  would,  and  we  do  not  want 
to.  The  great  joyous  task  is  to  reach  our  hands  across, 
and  find  unity  in  the  midst  of  our  rich  diversity.  For 
fifty  years,  we  have  yielded  to  the  centrifugal  force  of 
extreme  individualism  which  has  flung  us  apart  to  our 
specializations.  Now  we  are  coming  back,  for  the  great 


100  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

force  in  society  to-day  is  not  centrifugal,  but  centri- 
petal. We  have  had  our  time  of  social  analysis.  Now, 
strong,  irresistible  comes  the  impulse  of  social  synthesis. 
We  have  gone  apart  to  seek  our  separate  wealths,  and 
now,  to  make  our  separated  seekings  and  findings  worth 
while,  we  are  coming  back  like  hunters  to  the  camp  to 
talk  over  our  various  adventures,  and  to  throw  down 
at  the  common  camp  fire  the  prizes  of  our  achieve- 
ment. 

'The  very  forces  that  have  been  drawing  us  apart  into 
groups  and  classes  have  been  making  us  sick  of  our  arti- 
ficial separations,"  says  former  United  States  Commis- 
sioner E.  E.  Brown,  in  speaking  of  the  social  center 
movement.  "There  is  really  arising  a  hunger  for  neigh- 
borliness,  and  it  is  most  keenly  felt  in  the  very  environ- 
ment where  the  old-fashioned  neighborliness  is  most  im- 
possible. When  we  go  to  Europe  and  meet  in  the  Tros- 
sachs  or  Unter  den  Linden  the  man  from  over  the  way, 
we  greet  him  as  a  friend,  though  we  hardly  recognized 
him  at  home.  When  we  return  to  our  own  street  and 
resume  our  ordinary  ways,  the  chances  are  ten  to  one 
that  we  shall  drop  back  into  indifference.  The  lines  of 
association  do  not  nowadays  run  straight  from  our  door 
to  our  nearest  neighbor's  door.  Our  shortest  way  to  him 
is  round  by  some  common  meeting  place  where  we  join 
with  him  in  a  common  cause.  Then  it  is  that  we  find 
how  much  we  need  him  and  need  to  know  him." 

When  this  impulse  comes  to  the  older  ones  among  us 
it  is  not  a  vague,  new  call  to  an  unknown  gathering 
place,  but  a  clear  summoning  to  come  back  along  famil- 
iar paths  that  meet  at  a  place  we  know.  It  is  the  spirit 
of  the  older  American  that  sounds  in  Edna  Murray 
Ketcham's  "Song  of  Neighborhood" : 


LIKE   HOME  ioi 

Come  close  and  let  us  vvzke  tae  joy 

Our  fathers  used  to  know, 
When    to    the    little    old    schoolhouse 

Together  they  would  go; 
Then  neighbor's  heart  to  neighbor  warmed 

In  thought  for  common  good; 
We'll  strike  that  fine  old  chord  again — 

A  song  of  neighborhood. 

t  * 
The  fathers  clove  the  wilderness 

And  made  a  clearing  here, 
Then  at  its  heart,  this  friendly  roof, 

They  joined  their  hands  to  rear; 
And  here  they  met  and  talked  and  planned 

A  larger  common  weal. 
Their  future  we  are  living  now. 

We,  here,  their  purpose  feel. 

Out  in  the  world  we  all  have  learned 

Hardness  of  toil  and  care; 
It's  tried  our  souls  and  shorn  our  youth 

Of   dreams    and    visions    fair. 
In  worry  for  self  we  may  have  lost 

The   larger  hope   and   claim; 
Come,  'neath  this  common  roof,  and  here 

We'll  find  its  power  again. 

The  little  old  red  school  has  gone; 

Its  spirit  must  not  go, 
For  what  it  to  our  fathers  meant 

Our  present  time  must  know. 
Heavy  the  work  that  waits  our  hands; 

Our  single  strength  but  small, 
United  here  for  common  tasks, 

Each  finds  the  might  of  all. 


102  fHE  SOCIAL   CENTER 

•There  is"  sdfnethmg  strange,  however,  about  this  mem- 
ory of  how  we  used  to  get  together  in  the  community 
place.  Men  remember  it  who  never  actually  knew  the 
spontaneous  common  centering  of  the  old  days. 
Younger  men  remember  it  who  have  always  lived  in 
the  city.  Eugene  Wood  says:  "Sing  of  "the  little  red 
schoolhouse  on  the  hill  and  in  everybody's  heart  a  chord 
trembles  in  unison.  As  we  hear  its  witching  strains  we 
are  all  lodge  brethren — we  are  all  lodge  brethren,  and 
the  air  is  'Auld  Lang  Syne/  and  we  are  clasping  hands 
across,  knitted  into  one  living  solidarity." 

The  reason  why  this  drawing  to  the  center  of  neigh- 
borhood seems  to  be  a  common  memory,  is  because  it 
answers  to  the  demand  for  unity  which  reaches  back  far- 
ther than  its  expression  in  the  schoolhouse  meetings  of 
the  early  days.  One  evening  in  a  social  center  a  man 
who  was  born  and  grew  up  in  the  city,  and  never  knew 
the  schoolhouse  gatherings  in  his  own  youth,  said : 
"Won't  it  be  homelike,  when  other  cities  take  up  this 
idea.  One  will  always  know  that  there  is  a  friendly,  in- 
teresting place,  not  far  away,  where  he  can  spend  an 
evening,  a  place  where  class  lines,  religious  and  political 
differences  don't  count,  where  people  are  just  folks 
meeting  on  common  ground,  in  the  common  interest." 

Homelikel     Why  like  home? 

When  the  beginning  was  made  in  the  city  of  Roches- 
ter, New  York,  in  using  the  schoolhouses  as  the  delibera- 
tive headquarters  of  the  electorate,  only  men  were  in- 
cluded in  this  civic  club  organization. 

It  was  clearly  recognized  that  if  the  institution  of  the 
social  center  is  to  be  American,  it  must  be  democratic  in 
its  foundation.  It  was  seen  that,  if  the  provision  of  club 
opportunities  for  young  people,  of  lectures  and  entertain- 
ments, and  the  facilities  for  culture  and  recreation,  which 


LIKE   HOME  103 

go  to  make  up  a  complete  neighborhood  social  center, 
were  to  be  superimposed  upon  the  community  from  with- 
out or  above  by  order  of  any  well-intentioned  but  pater- 
nalistic agency,  then  there  could  be  no  real  life  in  this 
institution.  It  was  seen  that  its  basis  must  be  the  all- 
inclusive  organization  of  citizens  in  political  expression. 

The  reason  why,  in  the  first  neighborhood  organized, 
men  and  women  did  not  get  together  in  the  primary 
civic  club  was  not  because  women  are  not  as  socially, 
that  is,  politically,  minded  as  men — they  are  more  politi- 
cally minded  than  are  men;  but  simply  because  if  men 
and  women  gathered  at  the  start,  then  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  have  this  organization  clearly  recog- 
nized as  fundamentally  and  essentially  governmental  in 
its  character.  For,  in  New  York  State,  government  is 
still  regarded  as  the  business  of  a  sex.  Moreover,  there 
would  have  been  danger  of  having  this  body  confused 
with  a  parent  teachers'  association.  To  be  sure,  the  two 
organizations  are  absolutely  unlike,  the  parent  teachers' 
association  being  a  gathering  of  those  only  whose  center 
of  interest  is  in  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  an  educa- 
tion place  for  children,  and  so  excluding  those  who  send 
their  children  to  other  schools;  whereas,  the  neighbor- 
hood civic  club,  having  its  focal  center  of  interest  at 
the  ballot  box,  includes  the  whole  citizenship.  It  being 
essential  that  the  movement  be  understood  in  its  initia- 
tion as  political,  only  men  were  eligible  for  the  founda- 
tion organization.  To  be  sure,  opportunity  was  offered 
for  the  women  of  the  various  corrimunities  to  use  the 
schoolhouses  as  meeting  places,  but  their  organization 
was  separate. 

This,  at  the  beginning — but,  by  the  end  of  the  first 
year,  when  the  idea  had  been  fully  established  that  this 
assembling  of  the  members  of  the  committee  of  the 


104  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

whole  citizenship  for  deliberation  on  public  matters  is  in 
character  exactly  like  (only  "more  so")  the  use  of  the 
city  hall  by  the  subcommittee  of  aldermen  for  their  de- 
liberation, and  men  had  found  that  this  use  of  the  neigh- 
borhood building  is  vital,  virile,  actual  political  expres- 
sion ;  then  began  the  normal  gathering,  not  of  men  only, 
but  of  adult  human  beings  in  one  body  uniting  as  citizens 
in  a  real  democracy  to  talk  over  together  the  what  and 
the  how  of  realizing  the  common  good.  Then  was  estab- 
lished the  basis,  the  true  and  necessary  basis  of  the  insti- 
tution which  furnishes  the  living  nucleus  of  a  demo- 
cratic society  adequate  for  the  new  demands  of  our 
time. 

The  race  began  to  be  human,  that  is,  civilization  be- 
gan, when  men  and  women  united  and  remained  to- 
gether for  the  education  of  the  child.  It  was  not  the 
breeding  of  the  offspring  that  furnished  the  basis  of  the 
human  family.  Brutes  breed.  It  was  the  long  infancy 
of  the  human  child,  whose  helplessness  and  whose  mar- 
vellous educability  required  the  man  and  the  woman  to 
stay  together  for  its  sake.  It  was  the  common  equal 
association  of  men  and  women  upon  the  common  ground 
and  under  the  common  roof  consecrated  by  the  unfold- 
ment  and  the  training  of  childhood,  which  taught  the 
first  lessons  in  mutual  consideration,  and  care  for  an- 
other; it  was  the  uniting  effort,  and  the  planning  to- 
gether for  this  primary  group  whose  center  was  the 
place  of  the  child's  education  that  taught  the  first  lessons 
in  cooperation,  with  which  all  human  progress  began. 
It  was  when  men  and  women  united  in  this  little  dual 
society  whose  citadel  was  the  sacred  ground  of  the 
divinest  common  interest,  that  the  home  spirit  was  born. 
Out  of  that  primitive  family  group  in  widening  circles 
the  clan  and  the  tribe  came  to  be,  and  from  that  family 


LIKE  HOME  105 

rootage  grew  the  old  patriarchal  forms  of  government. 
And  the  family  remains — shall  ever  remain,  the  unit 
group. 

In  the  past  century  a  tremendous  change  has  come. 
Before,  the  greater  part  of  all  our  life  was  spent  within 
the  circle  of  the  household.  There  were  carried  on  the 
industries  and  the  arts.  There,  food  was  prepared,  and 
covering.  There,  too,  were  found  the  occupations  of 
leisure,  our  culture,  and  our  play.  And  because,  through 
our  association  together  upon  the  common  ground  of 
the  child's  education  there,  we  had  learned  to  think  and 
feel  and  enjoy  in  terms  of  the  welfare  of  this  little  group 
within  whose  circle  our  lives  were  spent,  the  activities 
which  we  carried  on,  the  industries  and  the  arts,  the 
culture  and  the  play,  were  humanized. 

Now,  all  this  is  changed.  Out  from  the  little  house- 
hold circle  have  gone  the  preparation  of  food,  the  card- 
ing of  wool,  the  spinning,  weaving,  and  fashioning  of 
cloth,  the  making  and  using  of  tools,  out  into  the  larger 
circle  of  the  neighborhood,  into  the  street  and  the  shop, 
the  factory  and  store.  These  activities  are  now  carried 
on,  not  in  the  spirit  of  mutual  consideration,  not  with 
the  motive  of  unselfishness,  not  with  the  consciousness 
of  joy  in  service,  but  in  an  atmosphere  whose  law  is 
that  of  the  brute — pretense,  suspicion,  fear,  deception, 
exploitation,  dog-eat-dog,  caveat  emptor. 

Why? 

It  is  not  that,  in  our  dealings  with  each  other  in  this 
wider  circle  where  now  our  work  and  play  is  chiefly 
done,  we  lack  the  precepts  of  a  human  way,  the  guid- 
ance of  the  preached  ideal.  It  is  simply  that  we  have 
not  yet  learned  to  adjust  our  group  sense  to  the  wider 
circle  in  which  our  lives  are  now  spent.  It  is  simply 
that  we  have  not  yet  learned  to  desire,  each  for  all,  and 


io6  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

all  for  each,  in  terms  of  the  larger  group.  We  have  a 
little  family-size,  "me  and  my  wife,  my  son  John  and 
his  wife,  us  four  and  no  more,"  range  of  group  feeling 
to  cover  a  circle  of  living  which  has  widened  far  be- 
yond the  household  area.  It  is  like  trying  to  cover  a 
square  mile  with  a  napkin. 

How  shall  we  learn  to  feel  our  membership  in  the 
larger  community  group  in  which  our  work  is  now  done, 
in  which  our  lives  are  now  lived,  as  we  have  learned  to 
feel  our  membership  in  the  little  household  group  ?  How 
shall  we  come  really  to  identify  our  interest  with  the 
common  interest  of  this  larger  group?  How  shall  we 
come  to  sink,  not  as  sacrifice,  but  as  fulfilment  of  our- 
selves, our  individual  ambitions  in  the  larger  good  of 
the  community  ?  How  shall  the  home-spirit  be  ex- 
panded, widened  to  humanize  our  relationship  to  other 
members  of  this  wider  company? 

All  of  our  legal  development  tends  to  fix  restraints 
upon  us  in  our  dealings  with  each  other,  to  enforce 
honest  exchange,  to  protect  "rights"  and  to  prevent  in- 
fringements. This  iron  framework  of  compulsory  order 
seems  to  be  necessary.  But,  a  society  which  engages 
men  to  patrol  its  ways,  to  keep  its  members  in  order 
with  clubs,  has  not  begun  to  find  itself.  All  our  educa- 
tion tends  to  widen  our  intellectual  comprehension  of 
our  membership  in  this  larger  group,  and  so  to  develop 
our  capacity  to  think  in  terms  of  the  wider  circle  of  our 
association.  At  the  best  this  intellectual  nexus,  coming 
as  it  does,  largely  by  way  of  the  printed  page,  is  medi- 
ate. No  person  ever  lived  who  could  express  himself 
by  writing,  or  who,  by  being  described  or  reported, 
could  be  fully  made  known  to  another.  When,  for  in- 
stance, we  read  the  writings  or  the  reported  speeches  of 
Lincoln,  or  the  stories  about  him,  does  not  our  reading, 


LIKE   HOME  107 

instead  of  satisfying,  increase  the  wish  that  we  might 
have  known  him,  that  is,  met  him  frequently  face  to 
face,  and  heard  him  speak? 

"There  can  be  no  life  in  a  community  so  long  as  its 
parts  are  segregated  and  separated,"  said  Governor  Wil- 
son, at  the  First  National  Conference  on  Social  Center 
Development.  "It  is  just  as  if  you  separated  the  organs 
of  the  human  body  and  then  expected  them  to  produce 
life.  *  *  *  I  know  that  a  great  emphasis  is  put  upon 
the  mind  in  our  day,  and  as  a  university  man,  I  should 
perhaps  not  challenge  the  supremacy  of  the  intellect,  but 
I  have  never  been  convinced  that  mind  was  really  mon- 
arch in  our  day,  or  in  any  day  that  I  have  yet  heard  of. 
What  really  controls  our  action  is  feeling."  How  shall 
we  learn  not  only  to  prevent  our  harming  each  other, 
and  not  only  to  think  clearly  in  terms  of  our  member- 
ship in  this  widened  association,  but  to  feel,  to  suffer 
and  enjoy,  in  terms  of  the  larger  circle  of  the  com- 
munity, as  we  have  learned  to  feel  in  terms  of  the  unit 
family  ? 

The  ready,  practical,  convenient  answer  lies  in  our 
using  as  a  point  of  focused  contact  the  common  place 
which,  in  the  midst  of  the  community,  has  the  same  char- 
acter as  had  that  first  center  of  interest  which  united 
us  in  the  little  group,  where,  in  the  unit  family,  the 
feeling  of  home  first  came  to  be. 

This  is  the  marvellous  social  significance  of  the  public 
schoolhouse  in  each  community.  It  is  as  though  the 
members  of  all  the  little  unit  families  had  said:  "The 
home,  the  little  unit  home,  *was  made  by  the  association 
of  adults  at  the  place  of  the  education  of  the  child.  The 
capacity  for  mutuality  was  latent  in  the  man  and  the 
woman  until  they  associated  at  this  place,  in  this  atmos- 
phere. In  the  larger  community,  the  capacity  for  gen- 


108  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

uine  fellow-feeling  is  latent  in  each  member.  We  will 
unite  to  establish  in  the  center  of  this  larger  group  that 
inter-est  (that  which  is  between)  which  gave  each 
home  its  unity,  and  gathering  there  we  members  of  the 
larger  group  shall  find  our  unity,  the  home-bond,  but 
circling  wider."  We  have,  in  establishing  the  public 
school,  joined  hands  as  Pietro  and  Violante  did  to 

hold  high,  keep  clean 

Their  child's  soul,  one  soul  white  enough  for  three, 
And  lift  it  to  whatsoever  star  should  stoop, 
What  possible   sphere   of   purer  life   than   theirs 
Should  come  in  aid  of  whiteness. 

America,  in  the  public  school,  has  taken  the  child  and 
set  him  in  the  midst  as  Jesus  took  the  child  and  set  him 
in  the  midst.  The  invigorating  atmosphere  of  the 
child's  unfoldment  is  the  breath  of  life.  The  light  of 
the  child's  presence  in  the  thought  of  men  and  women 
enables  them  to  see.  The  place  of  the  children's  educa- 
tion, at  the  center  of  the  neighborhood,  has  in  its  free- 
dom from  dogma,  its  democratic  foundation,  its  limitless 
aspiration,  its  vital  character,  not  only  the  most  power- 
ful dynamic  possibility  for  molding  the  future,  but  in 
its  use  by  men  and  women  to-day  as  a  center  of  equal 
association,  it  has  in  it  the  certainty  of  developing  that 
which  cannot  come  by  authority  or  study  or  precept, 
the  power  to  feel,  to  suffer  and  enjoy,  in  terms  of  the 
membership  of  the  neighborhood  as  now  we  feel,  and 
suffer  and  enjoy,  in  terms  of  membership  of  the  little 
household. 

We  talk  of  city  sentiment,  city  spirit,  the  feeling  of 
the  city's  membership.  It  is  impossibly  sudden  expan- 
sion. We  cannot  make  the  leap.  The  distance  is  too 
far,  the  enlargement  of  vivid  interest  is  too  great,  from 


LIKE  HOME  109 

the  little  homogeneous  household  group  to  the  vast  heter- 
ogeneous circle  of  the  city.  We  are  in  the  situation  of 
the  Scandinavian  on  the  dock,  whose  brother  on  the 
boat  cried,  "Yump,  Ole,  you  can  make  it  in  two  yumps." 
We  can  make  it  two  jumps.  We  cannot  "stretch  our 
auspices"  so  far  all  at  once. 

To  be  sure,  we  may  develop  a  pseudo  city-spirit,  a 
hectic  town-promotion  impatience  whose  motive  is  com- 
mercial. We  may  form  a  civic  improvement  associa- 
tion (forgetting  that  "civic"  and  "political"  mean  the 
same  thing,  civis  being  the  Latin  form  of  the  Greek 
polls),  and  we  may  adopt  a  "city  beautiful"  slogan.  We 
may  seek  to  beautify  the  ugly,  blotched,  worry  furrowed 
face  of  the  community  by  the  methods  of  the  beauty 
doctor,  the  resort  to  cosmetics,  rouge,  paints,  powders, 
skin-foods  and  patches,  forgetting  that  social  beauty 
can  come  only  with  social  health.  In  our  hearts  we 
know  that  this  commercial  promotion  and  this  special- 
izing in  the  superficial  are  counterfeit.  /We  can  never 
know  the  genuine  spirit  of  mutual  consideration,  of  high 
joy  in  inter-service,  out  to  the  wide  reach  of  the  city, 
until  we  have  found  a  half-way  stepping  stone,  in  an 
institution  of  the  neighborhood,  wherein  men  and 
women,  associating  in  the  clear  atmosphere  in  which 
the  home  spirit  was  born,  have  their  Qyes  opened  and 
their  hearts  freed.  | 

When  through  such  'acquaintance  in  cooperation  we 
have  become  human,  have  carried  the  home  spirit,  to 
the  wideness  of  the  neighborhood,  then  through  the  fed- 
erated interchange  and  union  in  the  enterprise  of  poli- 
tics, with  other  neighborhoods,  we  shall  gradually  push 
back  the  horizon  of  our  real  interest  and  fellow  under- 
standing to  include  the  city.  So,  and  not  otherwise, 
shall  the  individual's  capacity  for  identification  of  in- 


HO  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

terest  which  now  reaches  to  the  limits  of  the  household 
gain  in  power  till  it  can  include  the  membership  of  the 
city.  So  we  set  out  on  our  way  to  the  consciousness  of 
membership  in  the  Association  of  America,  which  shall 
make  of  it  a  home-land.  I 

The  experience  of  the  man  who  has  found  the  com- 
munity sense  through  coming  to  know  other  men  and 
women  in  the  association  of  the  social  centerxis  like  that 
which  an  island  might  have  if  it  were  conscious.  It 
stands  by  itself  out  there  in  the  sea.  It  looks  across 
at  other  islands  or  groups  of  islands.  They  seem  en- 
tirely separate.  And  they  are — at  the  surface.  But 
suppose  that  island  looks  down  beneath  the  surface. 
The  deeper  it  goes,  the  less  the  separation  from  the 
other  islands  becomes,  until  it  sees  that  down  at  the 
roots  of  its  being,  it  and  the  other  islands  are  all  one 
earth.  All  the  lands  there  are,  are  islands.  Some  are 
larger,  and  we  call  them  continents,  and  some  are 
smaller;  but  all  are  islands,  and,  no  matter  how  high 
they  reach,  or  how  varied  their  surface  differences,  the 
greater  part  of  each  is  down  beneath  the  surface.  The 
greater  part  of  each  is  that  which  each  has  in  common 
with  all  the  others.  The  greater  part  of  each  island  is 
the  one  earth.  So,(as  a  man  becomes  acquainted  with 
people,  who,  superficially,  seem  different,  separate;  as  he., 
comes  to  cooperate  upon  such  a  common  ground  as  that 
which  the  schoolhouse  use  offers,  he  comes  to  know  that 
the  greatest  of  our  interests  are  not  the  individual,  nor 
even  the  little  group  interests,  but  that  the  big,  important, 
fundamental  interests  are  those  we  have  in  common.  He 
comes  to  know  that  down  beneath  the  surface  the  greater 
part  of  each  of  us  is  humanity.  7 

So  have  we  made  the  start  toward  that  identification 
of  ourselves  with  mankind  which  alone  can  enable  us 


LIKE   HOME  III 

to  appropriate  our  heritage  as  human  beings.  "God 
gave  all  men  all  earth  to  love,"  says  Kipling,  and  then 
he  strikes  the  false  note  of  all  his  glorification  of  pro- 
vincialism in  his  acceptance  of  human  narrowness  as 
though  it  were  inescapable,  "But  since  man's  heart  is 

small, "  But  man's  heart  is  not  small.  He  has  only 

been  using  a  little  part  of  it. 

Obviously,  this  development  in  the  midst  of  the  com- 
munity of  the  place  where  the  home  spirit  may  find  a 
radiant  point  for  nucleating  our  common  life,  (does  not 
mean  to  rob  the  unit  home.  It  means  to  protect  the 
unit  home.  To-day  we  are  human  within  the  family 
group  and  not  human  outside)  We  can  no  more  remain 
half  cooperative  and  half  competitive  than  we  could 
remain  half  slave  and  half  free.  Either  the  home  spirit 
shall  take  the  neighborhood,  the  city,  the  state,  the 
nation,  the  world;  or  the  unit  home  itself  will  be  com- 
mercialized. 

So  far  from  injuring  the  little  unit  household  is  this 
development  of  a  homelike  institution  at  the  center  of 
the  neighborhood  that, its  effect  is  exactly  the  contrary, 
for  it  gives  to  the  members  of  the  household  a  center  of 
common  interest  wherein  their  equal  unity  is  strength- 
ened if  it  exists,  and  established  where  it  does  not  exist. 
^There  is  many  a  family  in  which  there  is  on  the  part  of 
the  man  a  petty  assumption  of  authority  and  self-asser- 
tion, and  on  the  part  of  the  woman  a  slavish  spirit  of 
subordination,  of  self-effacement,  and  in  their  associa- 
tion never  a  glint  of  the  joy  of  equal  companionship. 
What  it  means  for  such  a  household  to  have  the  father 
and  mother  come  to  know  each  other  on  the  equal  com- 
mon ground  of  a  neighborhood  center  of  democracy, 
was  told  by  a  small  boy  in  Rochester.  "Gee!"  he  said. 
"Things  is  different  at  our  house.  Ma  an'  everybody 


112  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

used  to  shut  up  an'  listen  when  Pa  talked  politics.  Now 
you'd  think  him  and  Ma  was  both  runnin'  the  city." 

Men  by  themselves  cannot  develop  the  human  atti- 
tude of  the  home  spirit  in  dealing  with  public  affairs. 
They  cannot  do  it  in  the  community.  Usually  a  man 
taking  care  of  the  house,  when  his  wife  is  away,  soils 
the  dishes  and  fails  to  wash  them,  uses  the  beds  and 
fails  to  make  them,  leaves  milk  in  the  ice-box  till  it 
sours,  distributes  his  clothes  in  wild  disorder  about  the 
place,  never  dreams  of  sweeping,  and  in  a  short  time 
has  the  house  looking — as  if  a  man  were  taking  care  of 
it  alone.  Even  though  he  be  precise  and  orderly,  even 
though  things  are  put  in  place,  and  everything  kept 
neat,  or  he  have  servants  to  do  these  things,  even  then 
the  place  is  not  a  home.  The  system  may  be  there,  but 
the  spirit  is  not.  And  if  there  are  children  to  be  cared 
for,  the  situation  becomes  tragic.  The  cities  look  as  if 
they  had  been  administered  by  men  alone. 

Men,  gathering  by  themselves  to  plan  out  the  wel- 
fare of  the  neighborhood,  the  welfare  of  the  town  and 
state  and  nation,  can  never  develop  in  their  planning  or 
in  their  plans  the  neighborhood  spirit  which  is  the  next- 
size  expression  of  the  home-spirit.  To  be  sure,  there 
are  neighborly  activities  for  which  men  may  well  get 
together  alone,  but  they  are  recreational.  The  primary 
and  serious  business  of  discussing  the  together  problems 
of  politics  cannot  be  sane  and  normal,  without  the  par- 
ticipation of  the  women  of  the  community.  For  poli- 
tics, the  administration  of  the  cooperation  that  we  call 
"government,"  belongs  to-day  far  more  to  the  province 
of  women  than  to  that  of  men.  Indeed,  if  we  are  to 
discriminate,  we  find  that  government  is  coming  to  be 
entirely  the  ordering  and  administration  of  women's 
special  sphere. 


LIKE   HOME  II3 

What  is  women's  sphere  as  distinguished  from  that 
of  men? 

To-day  in  trades  and  professions,  industries  and  arts, 
men  and  women  are  working  side  by  side.  Only  by 
turning  back  to  the  simple  conditions  of  primitive  liv- 
ing, among  the  American  aborigines,  for  instance,  may 
the  two  spheres  of  activity  be  distinguished.  The 
woman  is  engaged  in  grinding  corn,  preparing  food, 
plaiting  baskets,  molding  pottery,  carding  wool,  weaving 
blankets,  drawing  and  fetching  water,  caring  for  and 
educating  the  children,  ordering  the  care  of  the  camp 
or  village,  transporting  the  burdens  when  the  camp  is 
moved — in  short,  in  all  the  industries  and  arts  of  the 
primitive  Indian.  The  man  is  engaged  in — war.  He 
does  the  killing  of  other  animals,  and  he  spends  his 
leisure  in  gambling,  but  his  characteristic  activity  is 
war. 

With  the  process  of  discovery  and  invention  there 
have  come  great  changes  in  the  methods  of  carrying 
on  the  work  of  woman's  sphere.  Instead  of  the  little 
stone  mortar  and  pestle  with  which  she  ground  corn, 
we  have  the  great  roller  mills.  Instead  of  the  earthen 
jar  in  which  she  carried  water  we  have  the  munici- 
pal water  systems.  Instead  of  the  simple  method  by 
which  she,  with  or  without  the  aid  of  a  horse,  trans- 
ported the  burdens,  we  have  the  railroad  systems, 
and  her  business  of  ordering,  caring  for,  keeping  clean 
and  attractive  the  camp  or  village  has  grown 
tremendously  with  the  increase  of  the  modern  city  and 
state. 

Changes  have  come  also  in  man's  proper  sphere.  In- 
stead of  the  simple  tools  of  destruction,  such  as 
tomahawk  and  bow,  he  has  developed  very  elaborate 
machinery  for  tearing  people  to  pieces  and  destroying 


114  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

property,  and  he  has  elaborated  the  methods  of  gam- 
bling. 

In  the  early  days,  politics,  the  business  of  government, 
consisted  chiefly  in  devising  means  and  methods  of  do- 
ing harm,  in  councils  of  war.  Then  it  was  man's  busi- 
ness. But,  as  we  have  progressed  in  intelligence,  this 
aim  of  government  has  become  obsolete  until  the  only 
way  that  we  can  continue  to  set  apart  a  great  number 
of  men  from  useful  service  and  spend  vast  sums  of 
money  in  constructing  artificial  volcanoes,  is  by  pre- 
tending that  this  is  to  prevent  war.  In  other  words, 
government  has  become  almost  entirely  counselling  for 
human  welfare  instead  of  hurt. 

This  is  women's  business,  and  while  men  should  par- 
ticipate, they  are  awkward  at  it,  and  they  cannot  be 
expected  to  do  it  well  alone.  Men,  with  their  age-old 
habit  of  selfishness,  hostility,  suspicion,  craft,  developed 
through  thousands  of  years  of  glorifying  blood  lust, 
carry  on  the  industries  and  the  arts  with  the  old  war 
motive  and  manner,  and  by  themselves  make  even  of 
the  together  business  of  promoting  order  and  coopera- 
tion, the  business  of  government,  a  fighting  proposition 
and  a  game. 

In  caring  for  the  community,  the  city,  the  state,  it  is 
unquestionably  important  that  women  should  partici- 
pate on  equal  footing  with  men  in  the  final  decisions 
at  the  ballot  box,  but  it  is  infinitely  more  important  that 
women  should  participate  with  men  on  equal  footing 
in  the  deliberation  upon  the  questions  of  common  wel- 
fare, which  precede  the  vote. 

Where  women  are  franchised,  they  of  course  will  be 
equal  voting  members  in  the  neighborhood  organization 
of  the  citizenship,  but  where  they  are  not  yet  franchised, 
they  should  still  be  regarded  as  members  for  discussion. 


LIKE   HOME  115 

What  this  opportunity  for  gathering  with  other  men 
and  women  in  the  weekly  deliberation  at  the  neighbor- 
hood social  center,  means  to  the  individual  woman,  is 
expressed  in  the  words  of  one  who  spoke  from  her  own 
experience  : 


The  social  center  comes  to  the  rescue  of  the  middle-aged 
woman  in  the  bitterest  hour  of  her  life.  The  average  woman 
who  brings  up  a  family  of  children  on  the  average  wage 
must  do  all  her  own  housework,  her  sewing  and  mending. 
The  constant  demands  of  little  children  on  her  time  and 
energy  leave  her  little  opportunity  to  read  or  to  think  of 
anything  besides  the  work  in  hand.  She  is  probably  happy 
in  this,  and  looks  forward  to  the  time  when  her  children 
grow  up.  Then  they  go  to  high  school,  or  they  go  out  into 
the  world. 

Mingling  with  people  of  different  training  and  greater 
advantages,  they  no  longer  think  mother's  decision  on  any 
matter  final.  She  is  suddenly  aware  some  day  that  she  is 
not  her  daughter's  equal;  that  she  is  no  longer  a  fountain 
of  wisdom  as  she  was  to  her  little  children,  that  she  is  ig- 
norant and  hopelessly  behind  the  times.  She  struggles 
against  this  conviction,  but  facts  are  stubborn  things,  and 
at  last  she  faces  the  truth. 

What  shall  she  do?     What  can  she  do? 

She  goes  to  the  social  center.  There  she  finds  people 
with  the  same  desire  for  self-improvement,  the  same  want 
of  training,  and  she  also  finds  people  of  superior  ability 
and  experience  who  are  ready  to  help  her  while  they  are 
helping  themselves.  She  hears  addresses  on  the  great  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  She  hears  matters  of  municipal  interest 
explained  and  discussed,  and  she  is  delighted  to  find  that 
she  can  understand  them.  She  gains  courage.  After  a  little 
she  takes  part  in  a  debate,  and  before  the  season  is  over  she 
is  able  to  take  part  in  the  discussion  and  to  express  intelli- 
gent opinions.  \.The  woman  has  found  herself.  Her  children 
look  at  her  with  new  interest  and  begin  to  take  pride  in  her.i 


Ii6  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

Instead  of  the  complaining,  dissatisfied,  nervous  woman 
she  was  fast  becoming,  the  social  center  has  given  to  her 
family  and  her  community  a  bright,  well-informed,  useful 
American  citizen. 

This  is  what  a  woman  says  that  she  receives  from  the 
opportunity  of  participation  in  the  neighborhood  com- 
mon council.  What  she  gives  is  far  more. 

When  Tom  Tynan,  who  later  became  the  remarkably 
successful  Warden  of  the  Colorado  State  Penitentiary, 
asked  Judge  Lindsey  whether  he  supposed  that  the  prin- 
ciple on  which  he  acts  with  boys  would  work  with  adult 
criminals,  Judge  Lindsey  replied :  "Why,  of  course. 
Men  are  just  boys  in  long  trousers." 

"Why  isn't  somebody  trying  that  principle  with  men  ?" 
asked  Tynan. 

"Why  aren't  you  ?"  responded  Judge  Lindsey. 

"I  ?"  exclaimed  Tynan.  "Why,  I  don't  know  anything 
about  criminology."  He  was  a  business  man  at  the  time. 

"If  you  did,"  answered  Judge  Lindsey,  "you  wouldn't 
be  fit  for  the  job." 

What  Judge  Lindsey  meant  was  that  the  orthodox 
and  established  method  of  dealing  with  criminals  is  all 
wrong,  and  that  the  efficient  man  for  this  work  would 
be  the  one  who,  coming  to  it  mind-free,  would  apply 
the  principles  of  common  sense,  and  that  so  a  man's 
value  would  be  spoiled  by  learning  the  old  ways. 

In  the  fact  that  women,  as  a  rule,  have  not  the  habit 
of  thinking  in  terms  of  orthodox  "political"  method,  is 
the  great  value  of  the  contribution  which  they  can  make 
to  intelligent  and  effective  political  administration.  Or- 
thodox methods  in  the  treatment  of  criminals  perpetuate 
the  expression  of  the  obsolete  attitude  of  fear-impelled 
and  angry  retaliation  developed  when  the  criminal  was 
regarded  as  an  enemy  to  be  punished.  The  efficient 


LIKE   HOME  117 

man  for  dealing  with  criminals  is  the  one  who  comes  to 
the  work,  free  from  the  habit  of  action  which  reflected 
that  false  conception.  Orthodox  methods  in  the  admin- 
istration of  public  business  perpetuate  an  idea  of  gov- 
ernment which  is  obsolete,  not  merely  on  account  of  a 
development  of  humane  thinking,  but  on  account  of  the 
complete  change  of  character  of  the  government.  The 
orthodox  political  method  was  developed  when  the  pub- 
lic welfare  was  to  be  conserved  by  preventing  the  en- 
croachments of  a  sovereign  above  the  people  in  author- 
ity. The  whole  check  and  balance,  block  and  hinder, 
clog  and  hamper,  political  system  that  we  have,  was 
constructed  as  though  to  fit  a  monarchical  form  of  gov- 
ernment, as  though  the  president  were  a  sovereign  from 
whose  tyrannies  the  people  are  to  be  protected,  and  not 
at  all  as  though  he  were  what  he  actually  is,  the  agent 
and  hired  servant  of  the  people,  the  chairman  or  presi- 
dent of  the  association  of  American  citizens.  The  bi- 
cameral system  established  in  the  national  government 
and  copied  in  the  state  and  local  governments  is  simply 
the  perpetuation  of  the  form  which  was  logical  when 
there  was  one  class  of  lords  and  another  of  commons, 
whose  delegates  were  set  to  protect  the  separate  inter- 
ests of  these  two  classes.  This  system  is  manifestly 
absurd  when  so  far  as  political  prerogatives  are  con- 
cerned there  is  only  one  class.  It  is  simply  the  appoint- 
ment of  two  duplicating,  responsibility  shifting  and  mu- 
tually hampering  subcommittees,  charged  with  the  same 
commission  by  the  committee  of  the  whole  citizenship  in 
city  or  state  or  nation.  The  party  division  method  also 
is  simply  the  holdover  from  the  condition  in  which  so- 
ciety was  stratified  into  classes,  differing  in  political 
power. 

We  are  slowly  working  toward  an  adjustment  of  the 


Ii8  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

forms  of  government  to  the  idea  that  the  men  whose 
salaries  we  pay  are  our  hired  men,  that  they  are  simply 
committees  or  agents  whose  work  it  is  to  serve  the  asso- 
ciated citizenship  which  employs  them.  We  have  al- 
ready established  this  idea  in  many  municipalities,  where 
the  people  have  adopted  government  through  or  by  com- 
mission, that  is,  through  a  committee,  to  work  out  the 
details  of  the  common  business  of  the  people's  associa- 
tion of  the  city.  The  proposal  has  been  made  in  at  least 
one  state  that  one  of  the  two  houses  of  the  state  legis- 
lature be  abolished.  To  be  sure,  the  proposal  there  is 
that  the  English  system  of  responsible  party  government 
be  substituted,  but  this  is  a  step  toward  administration 
of  the  details  of  the  business  of  the  state  association  of 
citizens  through  a  single  subcommittee  of  the  committee 
of  the  whole  electorate.  And  a  bill  has  been  introduced 
into  the  national  legislature  to  abolish  the  United  States 
Senate  and  so  to  apply  the  same  principle  of  govern- 
ment by  commission,  that  is,  administration  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  people's  business  through  a  subcommittee  of 
the  committee  of  the  whole  citizenship. 

It  is  of  tremendous  importance  that  the  public  ma- 
chinery for  getting  things  done  in  the  common  inter- 
est should  be  simplified  and  made  "direct,  because  the 
present  complicated  and  tangled  system  not  only  makes 
easy,  but  invites,  interference  by  groups  of  people  who 
have  special  interests  to  serve,  that  is,  who  would  secure 
privilege  or  protect  themselves  in  levying  private  trib- 
ute of  various  kinds  upon  the  citizens.  Not  only  are 
men  and  volunteer  organizations  spending  inefficiently 
enormous  amounts  of  energy  in  seeking  otherwise  than 
by  the  regular  political  channel  to  influence  the  agents 
of  the  citizens  in  their  actions,  as  when  letters  are 
poured  in  to  "your  senator"  or  "your  representative" 


LIKE   HOME  119 

to  offset  "special  interest"  lobbies,  et  cetera,  but  there 
has  appeared  a  large  and  apparently  growing  group  of 
people  who  frankly  say  that  the  political  machinery  is 
a  useless  outfit  by  means  of  which  to  get  anything  done, 
and,  turning  aside  from  the  ballot  box,  they  resort  to 
"direct  action."  One,  of  course,  can  have  no  sympathy 
with  the  appeal  to  force  in  adjustment,  whether  among 
individuals  or  among  such  groups  as  nations ;  but  the 
fact  that  direct  action  is  contrasted  with  political  action 
is  a  distinct  indictment  of  our  whole  present  system; 
for  direct  action  is  simply  another  term  for  efficiency, 
and,  if  the  political  method  is  not  the  most  direct  method 
possible,  barring,  of  course,  the  fool's  method  of  force, 
then  it  is  not  good  political  method. 

Changes  in  form  of  government  machinery,  as  in 
the  physical  organism,  come  in  response  to  the  demand 
of  new  functioning.  Necessity  is  the  mother  of  inven- 
tion. When  the  flood  struck  Galveston,  the  people  sud- 
denly became  conscious  that  the  business  of  getting 
things  done  in  the  common  interest  was  important,  and 
they  quickly  substituted  a  committee  of  the  citizenship 
who  should  serve  as  an  efficient  tool  for  their  service,  in 
place  of  the  old  ornamental  structure  which  they  had 
supported  over  them.  In  other  words,  they  suddenly 
saw  that  the  common  business  is  too  important  to  have 
its  doing  made  the  occasion  for  men's  running  around 
in  circles  and  playing  shuttle-cock. 

In  the  process  of  smoothly,  speedily,  and  intelligently 
readjusting  our  machinery  of  administration  to  the 
democratic  idea,  and  making  it,  for  the  town,  the  state, 
and  the  nation,  the  efficient  agency  of  our  collective  self- 
service,  there  is  the  greatest  possible  advantage  in  the 
participation  of  women  with  men  in  the  discussion  of 
what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it ;  for  women,  by  their  train- 


120  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ing,  come  to  the  problem  of  administering  these  affairs 
with  the  common  sense  attitude  to  which  men  are  only 
slowly  approaching.  Women,  with  their  training  in  the 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  little  household,  come 
to  the  problem  of  handling  the  affairs  of  the  city  as 
the  problem  of  administering  a  larger  household,  and  to 
the  problem  of  the  state  and  the  nation  with  the  same 
attitude.  Being  more  sensitive  than  men  are,  the  im- 
portance of  getting  things  done  in  the  common  interest 
of  the  larger  household  of  the  city,  the  state,  the  nation, 
makes  them  intelligently  impatient  of  waste  effort,  un- 
reasonable delay,  and  of  political  processes  which,  by 
the  democratic  standard  of  our  time,  have  no  reason  for 
being  perpetuated. 

It  is  just  because  women  have  this  simple  and  direct 
attitude,  which  is  at  once  the  common-sense  and  the 
scientific  attitude,  that  it  is  so  unfortunate  that  all  over 
the  country  women  are  now  meeting  by  themselves, 
seeking  to  prepare  themselves  to  have  an  intelligent  part 
in  public  business  administration  by  studying  "civics," 
trying  to  master  the  forked,  tortuous,  check-and-balance 
technique  of  inefficiency,  as  though  the  present  ways  of 
getting  things  done  in  the  common  interest  were  rea- 
sonable ways. 

The  greatest  contribution  that  women  can  make  in 
political  affairs,  they  can  make  by  coming  just  as  they 
are,  bringing  to  the  discussion  of  what  to  do  and  how 
to  do  it  in  seeking  city,  state,  and  national  welfare  their 
native  sense  of  administrative  directness.  Every  day 
spent  in  the  study  of  the  old  politics  or  civics  in  meet- 
ings by  themselves  is  lessening  the  value  of  the  con- 
tribution which  they  can  make. 

If,  for  instance,  Tom  Tynan  had  come  to  the  direc- 
tion of  that  state  penitentiary  after  a  long  training  in 


LIKE   HOME  121 

study  of  orthodox  methods  of  dealing  with  criminals, 
he  would  have  seen  nothing  strange  in  the  fact  that 
men's  heads  were  clipped  and  kept  shorn  in  prison. 
It  was  because  he  was  mind-free  that  he  asked  the 
prison  barber,  whom  he  saw  at  work : 

'What  are  you  cutting  his  hair  so  close  for,  when 
winter  is  coming  on;  does  he  want  it  done  that  way?" 

"Why,  that's  the  way  we  always  have  done/'  an- 
swered the  barber. 

"But  what's  the  sense  of  it?"  asked  Tynan. 

"Sense?    Why,  I  don't  know,"  said  the  barber. 

"Well,"  said  Tynan,  "it  looks  foolish  to  me.  If  you 
could  make  people  good  by  cutting  their  hair,  we  ought 
to  have  barbershops  in  place  of  churches.  If  you  can 
find  any  good  reason  for  doing  it,  come  in  and  tell  me. 
If  ycu  can't — quit  it." 

If  Miss  Anna  Murphy  had  come  to  her  position  as 
superintendent  of  street-cleaning  in  the  stock-yard  dis- 
trict of  Chicago  with  the  orthodox  habit  of  thought 
about  such  a  political  position,  she  would  have  used 
the  public  funds  appropriated  for  this  work  in  building 
a  little  personal  machine  by  giving  easy  jobs  in  exchange 
for  votes.  As  it  was,  she  came  without  any  "political" 
ideas,  and  used  the  funds  put  into  her  hands  to  clean  up 
and  beautify  the  neighborhood,  just  as  though  it  were 
a  matter  of  taking  care  of  a  larger  household. 

This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  expert  knowledge 
is  not  needed  in  the  administration  of  public  business. 
It  is  needed,  and  it  will  be  far  more  likely  to  be  secured 
when  political  problems  are  recognized  as  simply  always 
and  only  l:ow  to  advance  the  common  group  welfare. 

The  cooperation  of  women  with  men  in  such  common 
counselling  upon  political  matters  as  the  schoolhouse 
invites  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  just  because  their 


122  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

minds  are  undistorted  by  their  having  learned  to  think 
of  public  service  as  a  matter  of  party  division,  of 
thwarting  and  intrigue,  of  craft  and  red  tape.  Their 
participation  will,  if  they  do  not  first  learn  to  think  of 
political  matters  otherwise  than  as  larger  household  prob- 
lems, shift  the  center  of  interest  in  politics  to  its  normal 
place,  the  welfare  of  the  child,  which  furnishes  the  one 
racially  and  practically  true  standard  of  judgment  in 
human  affairs,  the  one  sane  point  of  view  in  politics. 

Miss  Zona  Gale  pictures  the  thought  of  the  typical 
woman  as  it  has  been  shown  in  real  life  in  many  such  a 
citizens'  council,  in  the  words  of  Calliope  Marsh  at  a 
social  center  gathering  of  Friendship  Village: 

I  see  them,  mothers  to  the  whole  world.  And  they  wasn't 
coming  with  poultices  and  bread  and  broth  in  their  hands 
to  patch  up.  No,  sir.  Their  eyes  was  lit  with  a  look  that 
was  a  new  look  and  that  give  new  life.  And  I  looked  across 
at  that  row  of  tired  men,  not  so  very  much  dressed  up,  and 
I  thought: 

"You're  the  men  of  this  world  and  we're  the  women.  And 
there  ain't  no  more  thrilling  fact  in  this  universe,  save  one, 
save  one, — and  that  is  that  we're  all  human  beings,  and 
that  your  job  and  ours  is  to  make  the  world  ready  for  the 
folks  that  are  to  come.  Yet,  over  there  by  Black  Hollow 
one  of  our  children  is  dying  from  something  that  was  your 
job  and  ours  to  do,  and  we  didn't  take  hold  and  do  it." 

This  centering  of  interest  at  the  point  of  true  perspec- 
tive in  all  civilization  ;^and  the  use  of  the  common  build- 
ing which  is  the  one  expression  of  the  heart  of  democ- 
racy, as  the  headquarters  of  all  political  cooperation, 
means  to  make  the  neighborhood  fed  like  home.t  There 
is  nothing  that  can  stand  against  the  freedom  and  great 
achievement  of  a  people  whose  neighborhoods  feel  like 
home — whose  neighborhood  feels  like  home. 


CHAPTER   VI 

PRACTICAL  POLITICS 

When  the  political  organization  of  any  neighborhood 
becomes  animate,  that  is,  when  the  neighbors  gather  in 
the  schoolhouse  and  effect  the  deliberative  coordination 
which  includes  all  those  who  are  bound  together  by  the 
obligation  for  voting,  then  the  business  before  them  is, 
of  course,  politics — practical  politics. 

This  term,  as  it  has  been  misapplied,  has  usually  been 
preceded  by  the  verb  "play." 

Appropriately. 

A  child  plays  school  teaching,  that  is,  it  pretends  to 
carry  on  the  activities  of  the  person  whose  proper  busi- 
ness it  is  to  teach  school.  For  the  school  teacher,  his 
profession  may  -be  enjoyable,  but  it  is  not  a  plaything. 
Men  "play"  politics,  that  is,  they  pretend  to  be  the  citi- 
zenship whose  proper  business  it  is  to  control  and  direct 
public  matters.  For  the  citizenship  politics  is  not  ducks 
and  drakes.  The  devising  of  cooperations,  the  consid- 
eration of  and  agreement  upon  rules,  the  rinding  and 
commissioning  of  capable  servants  is  fascinating,  and  has 
the  zest  of  a  great  adventurous  enterprise,  but  being 
the  citizens'  proper  business,  it  is  not  for  them  a 
game.  And  when  any  individual  or  private  corporation 
is  found  "playing"  politics,  it  is  prima  facie  evidence 
that  he  or  they  are  pretending. 

Practical  politics. 

123 


124  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

Where  and  how  begin?  A  thousand  and  one  mat- 
ters national,  state,  municipal,  press  forward  for  con- 
sideration. It  may  be  that,  at  the  time  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  body,  a  "campaign"  is  "on"  and  the  compar- 
ative merits  of  various  applicants  for  public  employment 
demand  consideration;  or  it  may  be  that,  indeed  it  will 
be  that,  special  questions  concerning  national,  state,  and 
municipal  welfare  cry  for  attention.  They  come,  crowd- 
ing, great  complex  problems,  the  cost  of  living,  trust 
control,  taxation,  specific  propositions,  the  parcels'  post, 
the  fortification  or  neutralization  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
rate  regulation,  public  ownership  of  this  or  that  utility; 
and  the  question  before  the  newly  organized  council  of 
the  citizens,  as  it  becomes  conscious  in  any  degree  of 
its  responsibility,  as  a  section  of  the  first  and  final  legis- 
lature, a  branch  of  the  real  supreme  court,  is:  Where 
and  how  begin? 

The  answer  is:  Begin  at  the  beginning;  take  up 
first  the  public  matter  that  is  right  at  hand.  Every 
neighborhood  organization  of  the  electorate  in  city  or 
country  has,  as  soon  as  it  is  formed,  business  of  duty 
and  great  opportunity  immediately  before  it  which 
should  be  given  right  of  way,  which  should  be  regarded 
as  unfinished  business,  and  which  should  be  taken  up 
at  once. 

To  be  sure,  the  individual  in  any  neighborhood  who 
first  grasps  the  possibilities  and  recognizes  the  need  of 
community  organization,  may  take  advantage  of  the 
fact  that  the  public  interest  is  roused  to  a  particular 
question,  and  make  the  arranging  of  one  or  more  meet- 
ings to  consider  that  question  the  means  of  getting  the 
people  together.  For  instance,  in  one  Wisconsin  town, 
the  people  were  stirred  and  awakened  to  the  fact  that 
the  town  was  being  made  a  "hang-out  for  hobos."  The 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  125 

editor  of  the  town  paper  proposed  that  the  local  dele- 
gate to  the  state  legislature  come  before  the  citizens 
assembled  in  the  schoolhouse  at  the  initial  organization 
meeting  and  speak  upon  "What  the  state  is  doing  or 
planning  to  obviate  the  tramp  nuisance."  This  consid- 
eration of  a  live  issue  in  this  way  served  as  a  demonstra- 
tion of  the  value  of  such  an  organization  in  connecting 
the  community  up  with  the  state  subcommittee  in  its 
work,  and  because  it  brought  the  people  out,  served  to 
give  the  organization  a  running  start. 

In  Ohio,  Henry  W.  Elson,  the  historian,  a  member  of 
the  constitutional  convention,  says  that  the  delegates 
found  the  greatest  benefit  in  addressing  citizenship 
gatherings  in  their  home  districts  and  participating  there 
in  the  discussion  with  the  voters  upon  the  various  con- 
stitutional propositions,  week  by  week,  when  the  dele- 
gates visited  their  homes  during  convention  recesses. 
Here  were  questions  for  the  consideration  of  which  citi- 
zens were  conscious  of  the  need  of  assembling.  Their 
live  interest  made  these  gatherings  practical  and  gen- 
eral, and  furnished  the  opportunity  of  vigorous  large 
organization  at  the  start.  In  the  same  way,  the  fact 
that  a  campaign  is  afoot,  and  that  the  citizens  are  "on 
their  toes"  over  the  selection  of  public  servants,  national, 
state,  local,  may  well  be  taken  advantage  of  by  arrang- 
ing at  the  first  or  second  meeting  of  the  neighborhood 
organization  to  have  the  claims  of  the  various  candidates 
for  election  presented,  either  in  person  or  by  deputies. 
In  this  way  the  participation  of  many  of  the  citizens 
in  the  initial  organization  meetings  may  be  secured. 

But  the  "big  business,"  the  practical  politics,  which 
every  neighborhood  organization  should  center  interest 
upon  just  as  soon  as  it  has  well  started,  is  the  considera- 
tion of  the  neighborhood's  own  needs,  and  the  first  mat- 


126  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ter  upon  which  the  citizens  should  take  action  is  the  sup- 
plying of  these  immediate  needs.  By  this  method,  the 
people  in  any  community  not  only  secure  benefits  of 
the  greatest  importance  which  can  be  secured  for  their 
neighborhood  in  no  other  way  without  paternalism,  but 
by  this  method  the  actual  consciousness  of  what  govern- 
ment means  in  a  democracy  develops  through  joining  in 
first-hand  cooperative  creation. 

Taken  in  their  logical  order,  the  first  matter  of  prac- 
tical politics  which  every  adult  neighborhood  body  should 
focus  its  interest  upon  is  the  provision  of  the  means 
whereby  the  young  men  and  young  women,  the  older 
boys  and  girls  of  the  neighborhood  may  have  such  op- 
portunity for  training  in  civic  capacity  as  will  fit  them 
for  the  duties  which  they  are  soon  to  assume,  and  such 
wholesome  recreation  opportunities  as  they  must  have 
if  they  are  to  develop  physically  deep-chested,  strong- 
limbed,  clear-eyed,  and  are  to  be  educated  socially  in 
the  spirit  of  democracy.  In  other  words,  the  first  prac- 
tical opportunity  and  duty  of  each  adult  citizens'  body 
is  to  secure  provision  by  which  the  young  men  and 
young  women  of  the  neighborhood  may  have  oppor- 
tunity to  use  the  schoolhouse  as  a  club  house  for  or- 
ganizations modeled  upon  their  own. 

The  adult  organization  includes  both  men  and  women 
in  one  body.  The  young  people  should  have  two  sepa- 
rate organizations,  one  of  young  men,  the  other  of 
young  women,  using  the  schoolhouse  on  different  even- 
ings of  the  week  for  their  meetings.  With  the  adult 
organization,  the  publicly  employed  servant  is  a  secre- 
tary, who  is  under  the  authority  of  the  citizens'  body. 
With  the  young  people's  clubs  the  persons  employed  are 
over  them  in  authority.  With  the  adults,  the  primary 
interest  and  responsibility  is  in  the  consideration  of  pub- 


PRACTICAL  POLITICS  127 

lie  questions;  with  young  people  it  is  most  desirable 
that  along  with  the  club  opportunities,  there  should  be 
facilities  for  physical  activities,  both  indoor  and  out, 
and  for  wholesome  recreation.  This  implies  the  neces- 
sity not  only  of  having  the  neighborhood  civic  secretary, 
usually  the  principal  of  the  school,  engage  directors  for 
boys'  and  girls'  club  meetings  and  activities,  but  also  im- 
plies the  securing  of  gymnasium  equipment,  indoor  and 
out,  and  the  engagement  of  directors  of  physical  train- 
ing. It  may  be,  and  it  usually  is,  desirable  to  divide 
the  boys  into  two  organizations,  and  the  girls  likewise, 
but  this  division  should  be  made  not  into  two  sets  or 
cliques  of  the  same  age,  but  should  be  made  between 
those  who  are  from  seventeen  years  of  age  to  twenty, 
and  those  who  are  under  seventeen,  but  out  of  school. 
The  membership  should  include  every  boy,  or  every  girl 
of  the  neighborhood  who  is  out  of  school  in  the  club 
which  is  proper  to  his  or  her  age  just  as  the  adult  club 
includes  as  a  member  every  citizen  in  the  district. 

In  the  city  of  Rochester,  where  the  older  boys'  club 
in  each  social  center  was  called  the  "Coming  Civic 
Club,"  and  the  younger  was  called  the  "Future  Civic 
Club"  (the  girls  chose  more  individual  and  less  uni- 
form terminology  for  their  organizations),  the  plan  was 
followed  at  the  start  of  setting  the  lowest  age  limit  at 
fourteen,  and  admitting  boys  and  girls  above  that  age, 
on  their  respective  evenings,  without  regard  to  their  day 
school  enrollment.  This  plan  was  soon  abandoned  for  sev- 
eral reasons,  chief  among  which  was  the  fact  that,  as  a 
rule,  there  was  not  room  enough  for  both  sets  of  boys,  and 
it  was  felt  that  fairness  demanded  that  if  a  boy  had  the 
benefit  of  using  the  neighborhood  house  during  the  day, 
then  the  fellow  who  could  not  have  that  "privilege" 
should  have  the  right  of  way  in  the  evening.  (Notice 


128  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  word  "privilege."  It  was  used  by  one  of  the  boys 
who  had  been  compelled  to  leave  school  to  earn  money 
for  the  support  of  his  family,  and  the  effect  of  this  atti- 
tude was  shown  in  the  strange  idea  which  the  principal 
noticed  that  the  pupils  of  the  day  school  were  getting. 
He  said :  "When  the  children  see  grownups  and  older 
fellows  come  here,  not  because  they  have  to,  but  because 
they  want  to,  it  seems  to  suggest  the  extraordinary  idea 
that  it  is  a  'privilege'  to  come  to  this  building.") 

The  reason  why  the  adult  civic  body,  the  actual  de- 
liberative political  organization,  should  be  effected  first 
is  not  only  because,  in  this  way  alone,  can  the  develop- 
ment of  the  complete  social  center  be  democratic,  that  is, 
come  in  response  to  the  expressed  will  of  the  citizens 
of  the  community,  but  because  only  in  this  way  can  the 
young  people  have  before  them  the  example  of  civic 
expression  which  gives  to  their  gathering  the  meaning 
and  purpose  which  makes  it  genuine  citizenship  train- 
ing. Where  the  man  is  there  is  the  boy's  heart,  also. 
When  the  adults  of  the  community  are  using  the  neigh- 
borhood building  for  actual  political  expression  in  com- 
mon council  then  the  idea  of  citizenship  is  visualized 
and  the  young  men  and  young  women  have  the  model 
before  them  which  makes  of  their  club  activities  civic' 
apprenticeship. 

-^  Within  the  past  few  years,  the  vast  importance  of 
making  provision  for  the  associational  needs  of  young 
people  that  the  gang  spirit,  which  is  the  natural  exhibi- 
tion of  the  civic  instinct,  the  first  outreaching  of  group 
feeling,  may  find  expression  in  wholesome  forms,  and 
for  the  recreational  needs  of  young  people  that  they  may 
learn  in  practice  that  most  important  lesson,  that  it  is 
possible  to  have  the  best  sort  of  fun  without  doing 
harm,  has  been  recognized.  This  recognition  has  caused 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  129 

much  effort  to  be  expended  to  meet  this  common  need 
through  special  and  private  agencies.^ 

Perhaps  the  first  considerable  institution  developed  to 
provide  for  the  young  men  and  young  women  between 
school  age  and  maturity  was  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  type. 
The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  started  as  a 
purely  evangelical  movement  in  which  people  of  differ- 
ent Protestant  churches  united  for  the  conversion  of 
young  men.  There  were  added  to  this  religiously  sec- 
tarian institution,  cultural  and  recreational  features  partly 
because  it  was  seen  that,  if  young  men  were  to  practice 
the  clean,  wholesome  living  which  their  Christian  pro- 
fession implied,  they  must  have  opportunity  for  clean, 
wholesome  club  association  and  recreation,  partly  because 
the  provision  of  gymnasium,  bowling  alley,  reading  room 
and  club  opportunities  would  serve  to  draw  young  men 
into  the  environment  where  they  might  be  reached  by 
Protestant  church  influences  and  partly  because  men  and 
women  were  coming  to  see  that,  aside  from  all  special 
"religious"  considerations,  young  men  imperatively  need 
the  opportunity  for  clean,  wholesome  club  association 
and  recreation. 

In  the  fact  that  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  a  joint  enterprise 
of  most  of  the  Protestant  churches,  it  is  inter-denom- 
inational, but  in  the  fact  that  its  propagation,  and  full 
membership  in  it  are  limited  to  Protestants,  it  is  sectarian. 
That  is  to  say,  it  does  not  include  Catholics,  Jews  and 
those  unafRliated  with  religious  sects,  on  equal  terms. 
The  logical  and  natural  result  of  the  establishment  of 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  by  the  Protestants  of  any  community 
is  the  establishment  of  a  C.  M.  B.  A.  by  the  Catholics, 
and  a  J.  Y.  M.  A.  by  the  Jews,  and  also  the  establish- 
ment of  institutions  for  young  women  which  correspond 
to  these  provisions  for  young  men.  This  result  is  not 


130  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

always  accomplished,  because  these  other  sects  are  not 
everywhere  numerous  or  wealthy  enough  to  develop  such 
institutions  for  their  young  men,  and  in  comparatively 
few  communities  is  there  enough  energy  left,  after  pro- 
vision has  been  made  in  this  way  by  private  effort  for 
young  men,  to  develop  similar  facilities  for  young 
women.  But  girls  and  Catholic  and  Hebrew  boys  are 
either  provided  for  by  their  own  religious  organizations, 
or  they  are  not  provided  for  at  all,  so  far  as  full  mem- 
bership in  this  sort  of  association  is  concerned. 

On  one  side  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  J.  Y.  M.  A.,  the 
C.  M.  B.  A.  and  the  corresponding  young  women's  in- 
stitutions, are  carrying  on  the  activities  that  belong  in 
the  field  of  the  church.  That  is,  they  are  all  sectarianly 
religious.  On  the  other  side  each  of  them  is  privately 
operating  in  the  field  of  common  enterprise.  On  the 
one  side  each  of  them  is  duplicating  the  work  of  the 
churches ;  on  the  other  side  they  are  duplicating  the  work 
of  each  other.  There  is  a  difference  between  the  modes 
of  worship  carried  on  in  these  separate  institutions,  but 
there  is  no  slightest  difference  between  the  parliamentary 
usage  followed  in  the  club  activities  in  one  and  that  fol- 
lowed in  another.  There  are  differences  between  the 
sacred  books  used  in  these  several  organizations,  but 
there  is  no  difference  between  the  basket-ball  rule  books 
which  they  use  in  their  several  gymnasiums. 

The  fact  that  this  method  of  provision  has,  even  with 
the  most  strenuous  efforts,  proved  wholly  inadequate  is 
not  the  greatest  reason  why  thoughtful  men  and  women 
are  seeking  to  promote  such  provision  as  will  not  in- 
volve duplication  where  there  is  no  reason  for  dupli- 
cation. It  is  plain  that  only  a  very  small  percentage  of 
the  young  men  and  women  in  the  cities,  and  practically 
none  of  the  young  men  and  women  in  the  country  are 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  I3I 

provided  by  this  means  with  the  opportunities  for  whole- 
some club  association  and  recreation  which  all  young 
men  and  women  need.  The  greatest  reason,  however,  for 
recognizing  that  the  common  associational  and  recre- 
ational needs  of  youth  should  be  provided  through  a 
single  public  agency,  while  the  various  churches  assume 
the  work  of  religious  service  to  the  young  people  of 
their  several  sects  is  because  the  method  of  supplying 
these  common  needs  through  duplicating  institutions  hav- 
ing sectarian  connections  on  their  religious  side,  tends  to 
carry  the  wedge  of  division  into  the  field  where  there 
is  no  reason  for  division,  but  every  reason  for  com- 
munity action.  It  tends  to  make  gymnasium  activities 
and  other  forms  of  recreation  a  ground  of  sectarian 
partition  when  it  is  normally  a  common  ground  in  which 
division  and  duplication  have  no  justification.  What  is 
worse,  it  tends  to  make  the  training  in  club  activities, 
the  training  for  citizenship,  which  is  right  only  as  it  is 
broad  in  sympathy  and  understanding,  and  entirely  free 
from  sectarian  bias,  itself  sectarian,  so  that  the  young 
men  and  young  women  come  to  the  duties  of  citizenship 
not  with  the  all-inclusive  social  and  civic  habit  of  thought 
developed  through  association  with  young  people  of 
different  religious  and  home  training,  but  with  a  view 
point  limited  and  narrowed,  by  which  henceforth  they 
tend  to  look  at  questions  of  the  common  welfare  with 
a  sectarian  slant  entirely  out  of  harmony  with  the  demo- 
cratic idea  of  "separation  of  church  and  state." 

It  is  no  question  of  competition  between  the  Y.  M.  C. 
A.,  the  C.  M.  B.  A.,  and  other  semi-religious  institutions 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  citizenship  as  a  whole  on  the 
other,  for  it  is  coming  to  be  generally  recognized  that 
this  provision  for  citizenship  training  and  recreation  for 
young  men  and  young  women  is  a  part  of  the  com- 


132  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

munity's  function  of  education  and,  just  as  the  teach- 
ing of  reading  and  writing  which  was  once  furnished 
to  the  few  by  semi-religious  institutions  came  to  be 
taken  over  by  the  state  and  made  common  to  all,  so 
these  other  forms  of  education.  In  this  movement  the 
men  and  women  who  are  engaged  in  the  work  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  other  institutions  of  this  type  are 
among  the  most  earnest  advocates  of  the  community's 
self-service  in  provision  for  young  people  through  social 
center  development.  The  leaders  in  the  various  churches 
recognize  that  these  institutions  are  .duplicating  the  work 
of  the  churches  on  the  one  hand,  and  are  inadequately, 
expensively  and  divisively  competing  in  a  field  in  which 
there  is  no  reason  for  the  waste  of  competition,  on 
the  other. 

The  attitude  of  the  typical  minister  is  expressed  in 
the  words  of  a  leading  clergyman  in  a  middle-western 
city,  recently  spoken :  "Some  time  ago,  when  I  began  to 
recognize  the  need  of  a  recreation  place,  especially  for 
young  people,  I  thought  of  building  a  parish  house  in 
connection  with  my  church.  I  then  thought  it  would  be 
more  economical  to  unite  forces  with  others  in  the 
building  of  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  To-day  I  see  that  the  money 
that  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.  would  cost,  would  go  many  times 
farther  and  would  benefit  all  the  young  people  instead 
of  only  a  few,  if  it  were  contributed  through  the  regular 
channels  of  public  cooperation  and  spent  in  securing 
equipment  and  supervision  for  the  use  of  the  school- 
houses  and  grounds  during  the  time  they  are  now  idle, 
for  club  activities  and  physical  training.  This  is  just 
as  educational  as  the  study  of  books,  it  is  the  common 
business  of  the  community."  The  fact  that  the  attitude 
here  expressed  is  not  limited  to  the  men  of  any  denom- 
ination or  sect  is  illustrated  in  the  case  of  Stanley,  Wis- 


PRACTICAL  POLITICS  133 

consin.  Here  the  use  of  the  high  school  building  as 
a  "people's  club  house"  came  about  as  a  result  of  the 
united  leadership  of  the  Lutheran  pastor,  the  Roman 
Catholic  priest  and  the  Presbyterian  minister. 

Another  special  method  of  answering  the  problem  of 
wholesome  training  and  recreation  for  boys  and  girls  is 
the  recent  Boy  Scout  movement  with  its  auxiliary  ex- 
pression in  the  Girls'  Guard  or  Camp  Fire  Girls'  organi- 
zation. This  movement  when  promoted  by  sectarian  in- 
stitutions is  open  to  the  same  objection  as  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  as  carrying  the  division  which  belongs  to  the 
field  of  church  activity  into  common  fields  of  expression 
which  have  no  reason  for  being  sectarianly  divided. 

Even  when  some  of  the  non-military  elements  of  the 
Boy  Scout  idea  are  incorporated  in  the  work  of  the 
regular  public  schools,  as  undoubtedly  they  should  be, 
this  method  of  seeking  to  answer  the  need  of  young 
men  and  young  women  for  such  wholesome  associational 
and  recreational  opportunities  as  will  furnish  training 
for  citizenship,  absolutely  breaks  down  at  the  most  im- 
portant point.  The  Boy  Scout  idea  and  practise  fail  to 
hold  the  interest  of  the  youth  at  sixteen  or  seventeen 
when  the  dress-up,  play-soldier,  big-Injun  period  is 
past. 

The  same  objection  holds  with  the  World  Scout  move- 
ment inaugurated  by  Sir  Henry  Vane.  He  evidently  was 
not  informed  by  Lord  Roberts,  General  Baden-Powell, 
Lord  Beresford  and  the  other  members  of  the  "military 
cabal"  who  are  the  chief  promoters  of  the  Boy  Scout 
movement  that  this  movement  is  not  a  "kindergarten 
for  militarism."  He  seemed  to  regard  it  so  as  a  result 
of  his  investigation  at  its  home  in  England,  and  devised 
the  World  Scout  idea  whose  spirit  should  be  that  of 
helpfulness  instead  of  hurt,  of  world-brotherhood  instead 
10 


134  THE   SOCIAL  CENTER 

of  war.  It  may  be  asked :  If  a  boy  or  a  man  love  not 
his  neighborhood  which  he  has  seen,  how  can  he  love 
the  world  which  he  has  not  seen?  It  may  be  suggested 
that  the  natural  line  of  development  of  the  group  sense 
is  not  to  attempt  to  leap  from  the  unit  family  sense 
to  the  world  feeling  and  then  come  back  to  neighbor- 
hood sympathy,  but  to  progress  from  family  to  neigh- 
borhood, to  city,  to  state,  to  nation,  to  world  compre- 
hension. Granting  the  superiority  of  the  spirit  and 
underlying  idea  of  the  World  Scout  movement  over 
that  of  the  Boy  Scout  movement,  they  are  alike  in  the 
fact  that  they  belong  to  the  grade  school  period  of  the 
boy  and  do  not  answer  at  all  the  need  for  civic  train- 
ing between  the  grade  school  age  and  maturity. 

If  not  a  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  how  about  building  a  separate 
recreation  center?  Twenty  years  ago  a  group  of 
people  in  Chicago  applied  to  the  school  board  in  that 
city  to  have  one  of  the  schoolhouses  opened  for  use 
in  the  evening  by  the  young  men  as  a  club  house. 
There  being  no  organization  of  the  voters  in  the  neigh- 
borhood with  power  to  enforce  the  request  and  with 
authority  to  order  this  use  of  public  money,  the  school- 
board  after  considering  the  relative  rights  of  the  mice 
and  the  young  men  to  the  use  of  these  buildings  in  the 
evening  declared  in  favor  of  the  mice,  and  refused  the 
request.  Thereupon  the  energy  of  these  volunteer  "sol- 
diers of  the  common  good"  was  turned  to  the  securing 
of  special  buildings  and  grounds  which  could  be  used 
for  the  gathering  and  recreation  of  the  community, 
especially  the  young  people.  So  began  the  movement  for 
building  separate  buildings  and  securing  separate 
grounds  as  recreation  centers. 

"Thus   far   in   Chicago   nearly   twenty  million   dollars 
has  been  spent  in  getting  this   duplicate  neighborhood 


PRACTICAL  POLITICS  135 

building  and  ground  equipment,  and  the  result  is  that 
there  are  seventeen  of  these  establishments  serving  sev- 
enteen neighborhoods.  This  same  amount  of  money,  if 
it  had  been  put  into  adding  to  the  equipment  and  sup- 
plying the  supervision  needed  for  the  full  use  of  the 
school  plants  would  mean  that  instead  of  seventeen 
neighborhoods  being  especially  favored,  every  neighbor- 
hood in  the  city  would  be  supplied  with  a  wholesome 
recreation  center,  and  the  school  system  of  Chicago, 
instead  of  being  (until  recently)  one  of  the  worst  in  the 
country,  would  be  a  model  for  the  world. 

The  failure  of  the  citizens  first  to  organize  a  voters' 
league  or  neighborhood  civic  association  which  with  its 
meetings  in  the  schoolhouse  would  furnish  the  model 
upon  which  the  young  people's  recreational  activities 
would  shape  themselves  with  a  core  of  civic  training,  and 
which  would  have  a  right  to  give  directions  to  the 
school  board,  which  failure  led  to  the  duplicating  of 
neighborhood  plants,  has  not  only  cost  Chicago  tre- 
mendously, but  it  has  injured  the  whole  country.  For, 
in  many  cities,  the  Chicago  field  house  idea  has  been 
copied,  with  the  naturally  resulting  loss  to  the  school 
system  itself,  and  the  great  loss  to  the  communities,  of 
efficiency  and  unity  in  their  neighborhood  equipment. 
And  not  only  have  cities  suffered,  but  small  towns  also. 
For  instance,  in  Merrill,  Wisconsin,  a  few  years  ago, 
A.  Stange,  a  wealthy  lumberman  who  had  come  to  the 
town  as  a  poor  boy,  desiring  to  repay  the  community 
for  some  of  the  benefits  he  had  derived  from  it,  decided 
to  make  provision  for  the  recreational  needs  of  the 
young  people.  The  Chicago  field  house  duplication  sug- 
gested the  way,  and  he  built  a  handsome  building  equip- 
ped with  gymnasium  and  club  rooms.  He  thought  that 
if  he  furnished  the  building  the  citizens  would  maintain 


136  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

its  supervision.  For  two  years  the  building  stood  va- 
cant. Then  it  was  torn  down. 

'  If,  instead  of  following  the  Chicago  plan  he  had  given 
the  money  which  the  building  would  cost  to  the  school 
board  to  be  used  in  adding  recreational  equipment  and 
the  necessary  supervision  which  would  make  the  school- 
house  completely  useful,  ill-feelings  and  antagonism 
would  not  have  developed  and,  within  a  very  short  time, 
the  community  would  have  found  the  great  benefit  of 
this  recreational  equipment,  would  have  appreciated  its 
necessity  and  would  have  assumed  the  expense  of  its 
maintenance.  This  Chicago  method  of  building  sepa- 
rate neighborhood  buildings  for  that  form  of  educa- 
tion which  goes  under  the  name  recreation  has  hurt 
the  rural  communities;  for  it  has  suggested  that  the 
provision  of  recreational  opportunities  is  a  very  ex- 
pensive community  undertaking  which  requires  the  se- 
curing of  new  property,  and  so  the  attempt  to  influence 
a  body  of  public  servants  otherwise  than  by  organized 
citizenship  expression,  and  the  stupidity  (or  worse)  of  a 
school-board,  brought  it  about  that  the  great  splendid 
recreational  impulse  has  been  for  a  time  diverted  from 
its  normal  American  channel  of  expression  through  the 
increase  of  the  use  of  the  school  plant  in  every  com- 
munity. 

To-day,  the  great  leaders  of  the  movement  for  rescuing 
the  recreational  life  of  us  all,  and  especially  the  young, 
from  the  degradation  incident  to  its  commercial  ex- 
ploitation, recognize  that  the  schoolhouse  and  ground  is 
the  natural  recreation  center.  For  instance,  Clark  W. 
Hetherington,  the  philosopher  of  recreation,  the  author 
of  "The  Normal  Course  in  Play,"  says: 

To  make  the  play  of  all  the  young  people  of  the  nation 
efficient  three  things  are  essential:  First,  there  must  be  a 


PRACTICAL  POLITICS  137 

permanent  agency  whose  business  it  shall  be  to  organize 
the  play  life  of  all  for  efficiency.  Second  there  must  be 
leadership  by  a  permanently  employed  staff.  Third,  there 
must  be  centers  that  give  play  opportunities  in  a  wholesome 
environment. 

The  only  permanent  agency  that  is  potentially  fitted  to 
reach  all  the  young  people  of  the  nation  is  the  public  school. 
The  little  district  schoolhouse,  now  grown  in  some  of  our 
cities  to  a  great  steel  and  brick  palace,  with  its  staff  of 
teachers  and  its  local  and  state  administrative  machinery, 
is  the  nation-wide  institution.  It  is  a  permanent  agency,  a 
powerful  one,  and  the  backbone  of  our  destinies  as  a  nation. 
The  public  school  is  everywhere,  the  public  school  teacher 
is  everywhere,  and  the  schoolhouse  and  school  yard  are  the 
natural  community  center. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  playground  does  not,  as 
a  rule,  draw  children  from  a  district  of  more  than  a  quarter 
mile  in  radius,  nor  the  older  young  people  from  more  than 
half  a  mile.  In  Chicago,  with  its  famous  small  park  and 
field  house  system,  one  can  ride  for  miles  in  almost  any 
direction  and  see  thousands  of  children  playing  in  the 
streets  or  in  dirty  vacant  lots,  without  either  equipment  or 
supervision.  Yet,  Chicago  has  spent  enormous  sums  for  the 
construction  of  this  equipment  and  is  spending  $300,000  a 
year  for  maintenance,  and  all  for  one  section  of  the  city. 

It  seems  clear,  therefore,  that  society  cannot  afford  to 
duplicate  the  school  system  to  make  Nature's  means  of  edu- 
cation efficient,  while  the  school  plant  and  the  school  admin- 
istrative machinery  stand  idle. 

What  Professor  Hetherington  is  to  the  philosophy 
of  play,  Dr.  Luther  H.  Gulick  has  been  to  the  promo- 
tion of  public  recreation.  He  was  the  organizer  and 
first  president  of  the  Playground  and  Recreation  Asso- 
ciation of  America.  Speaking  of  recreational  activities 
as  a  part  of  the  community's  "social  life,"  he  says: 
_l"The  school  plant  is  the  natural  focal  point  of  the  com- 


138  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

munity's  social  lifej  since  it  centers  the  universal  in- 
terest— and  cuts  through  social,  religious  and  even 
racial  lines." 

Not  only  have  men  outside  of  Chicago  come  to  see 
the  wisdom  of  making  the  schoolhouse  and  ground  the 
single  common  center  of  adult  civic  expression  and  of 
recreation  for  the  whole  community,  but  Edward  B. 
DeGroot,  the  man  who  from  the  beginning  has  had 
charge  of  the  activities  carried  on  in  the  South  Park 
buildings  and  grounds  agrees  absolutely  with  the  po- 
sition that  this  plan  of  duplication  of  neighborhood 
equipment  is  extravagant,  inefficient  and  wrong  in  prin- 
ciple and  practice,  and  the  schoolhouses  in  Chicago  are 
now  being  opened  for  wider  use. 

It  may  be  well  to  consider  here  whether  the  public 
school,  as  it  is  now  developed,  as  merely  an  education 
place  for  children,  does  not  meet  the  needs  of  American 
life,  whether  in  the  course  of  time,  the  use  of  the  school- 
house  simply  for  the  children  will  not  solve  our  problems. 

A  few  years  ago,  before  the  Connecticut  State 
Teachers'  Association,  President  Eliot  said  that  com- 
pared with  what  was  hoped  would  result  from  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  common  school,  this  most  important 
of  all  our  institutions  is  a  failure,  and  he  gave  a  cata- 
logue of  some  ten  of  the  common  evils  of  our  time  which 
.  -  the  public  school  fails  to  right.  These  evils  may  be 
grouped  under  three  heads :  misgovernment  in  place  of 
public  efficiency,  dissipation  and  idling  in  place  of  con- 
structive use  of  leisure  in  recreation,  cleavage  and  class 
feeling  in  place  of  social  order  and  public  spirit. 

This  is  a  very  serious  charge,  for  the  distinctive  suc- 
cess or  failure  of  America  lies  in  our  efficiency  or  bun- 
gling of  collective  self-service  through  political  ma- 
chinery, our  waste  or  good  use  of  leisure,  our  capacity 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  139 

to  weld  a  harmonious  whole  out  of  the  varied  elements 
of  our  population  and  so  to  produce  a  race  of  socially 
conscious  men  and  women,  the  maxim  of  whose  choices 
shall  be  the  common  good. 

The  fault  is  not  in  the  character  of  the  service  for 
which  the  neighborhood  building  and  ground  is  now 
used.  The  fault  is  simply  in  the  fact  that  at  present 
it  is  used  to  coordinate  the  social  life  of  only  a  third  of 
the  population  of  the  community,  and  that  the  evils  of 
which  Dr.  Eliot  speaks  are  those  which  come  through 
the  failure  of  the  citizenship  to  use  this  building  as 
the  common  political  headquarters,  and  their  failure  to 
bring  about  its  equipment  and  use  as  the  common  recre- 
ation center  of  the  community  for  the  young  men  and 
women  between  school  age  and  maturity. 

The  public  school  as  simply  an  education  center  for 
the  child  does  not  and  "cannot  produce  good  citizenship, 
for  in  its  nature  it  is  and  must  be  a  monarchy,  a  place 
of  training  in  obedience.  We  may  veil  and  soften  the 
authority  into  the  most  careful  fostering  guidance,  as 
Froebel  did  and  as  Madame  Montessori  does,  but  the 
authority  must  reside  in  the  person  over  the  scholars, 
and  the  law  of  the  school  must  be  obedience.  Good 
citizenship  is  more  than  obedience.  Good  citizenship  in 
a  democracy  is  the  consciousness  and  the  practice  not 
only  of  responsibility  for  obeying  the  government,  but 
for  participation  in  being  the  government. 

Does  the  public  school  system  as  it  is  now  used  tend 
powerfully  toward  the  development  of  temptation-re- 
sisting power,  toward  the  supplanting  of  vice  and  dis- 
sipation and  the  capacity  to  freely  devote  surplus  energy 
to  beautiful  expression?  The  use  of  the  schoolhouse 
as  simply  the  formal  education  center  for  the  child 
does  not  and  cannot  meet  this  need,  because  in  its  na- 


|40  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ture  it  is  restrictive.  The  child  in  the  school  is  not  free 
to  do  wrong.  Attendance  is  compulsory.  There  is  prac- 
tically no  training  in  spontaneous  expression. 

And,  finally,  does  or  can  the  use  of  this  neighborhood 
building,  simply  as  an  education  place  for  children,  de- 
velop that  social  consciousness,  that  breadth  of  sympathy, 
that  sense  of  human  solidarity  and  power  for  collective 
action,  upon  which  all  those  who  do  not  accept  the 
doctrine  of  the  class  struggle  base  their  hope  of  human 
progress  ? 

The  public  school  is  a  socially  supported  institution 
but,  in  its  use  as  simply  an  education  place  for  children, 
it  is  individualistic  in  the  tendency  of  its  training.  The 
main  lines  of  conscious  obligation  and  responsibility  do 
not  run  horizontally  from  child  to  child,  but  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  teacher  to  each  child.  This  is  necessarily 
the  case.  As  long  as  children  are  under  a  teacher,  and 
as  long  as  they  are  children  they  must  be  under  a 
teacher,  the  chief  feelings  of  the  child  are  directed  up- 
ward, whether  they  are  love  or  fear  or  dislike,  toward 
the  teacher,  rather  than  outward  as  social  feeling.  More- 
over the  whole  spirit  of  child  study  is  the  consideration 
of  each  child  as  an  individual  and  the  main  tendency 
of  its  training  is  to  develop  the  child's  powers  and 
capacities,  his  self-reliance,  and  independence.  And  this 
is  as  it  should  be,  for  the  period  of  independence  is  a 
necessary  stage  of  the  child's  development.  Only  by 
this  training  at  this  period  can  the  later  consciousness 
of  interdependence  be  strong  and  free.  Its  service  in 
social  training  the  schoolhouse  can  render  only  as  it  is 
made  a  fraternal  meeting  place  of  adults. 

The  public  school  has  not  failed  so  far  as  it  is  used. 
It  has  done  and  is  doing  its  service  to  the  community 
through  the  children.  The  citizens  have  failed  to  use 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  141 

this  neighborhood  building-  as  political  headquarters  and 
have  failed  to  provide  for  its  use  as  a  civic  training 
place  for  young  men  and  young  women  in  addition  to 
its  use  as  a  formal  education  place  for  children.  — — - 

With  the  one-third  use  to  which  it  is  now  put,  the 
influence  of  this  institution  is  to  breed  that  spirit  of 
obedience  which  makes  it  easy  for  political  and  economic 
bosses  to  rule,  and  that  spirit  of  reverence  for  things 
as  they  used  to  be  when  the  teacher  was  young,  which 
puts  a  drag  on  the  progress  of  society  and  stifles  spon- 
taneity; and  that  spirit  of  self-centered  individualism 
which  has  chopped  us  up  into  a  thousand  and  one  little 
groups  mutually  exclusive,  separated,  suspicious  of  each 
other,  with  no  development  of  community  feeling,  social 
consciousness  or  democratic  sense. 

J*"*--' 

The  fact  is  that  to-day  the  public  school  building  is 
to  the  community  what  the  house  would  be  to  the  fam- 
ily, if  it  were  used  only  as  a  nursery  for  the  children. 
This  use  alone  would  not  make  a  home.  The  neighbor- 
hood institution  one-third  used  is  parental  and  individ- 
ualistic in  its  influence,  just  as  the  household  would  be 
if  it  were  used  only  as  a  place  for  children.  For  the 
family  group  the  house  is  a  home  when  it  is,  first  of  all, 
a  place  of  democracy,  of  equal  union,  of  free  expression 
and  group  sense  between  adults ;  then  a  place  of  parental 
guidance  of  young  children,  restrained,  and  individualis- 
tic, then  for  those  between  these  two,  a  place  of  training 
during  the  transition  from  childhood  to  maturity. 

When  the  neighborhood  building  is  used  first  as  a  com- 
mon democratic  association  place  for  adults,  and  by 
them  made  the  center  wherein  young  people  (out  of 
school)  may  find  opportunities  of  training  for  citizen- 
ship in  the  practice  of  self-government  and  for  whole- 
some recreation,  this  institution  in  the  center  of  the 


142  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

neighborhood  becomes  in  its  influence  for  the  neighbor- 
hood group  what  the  home  is  for  the  family  group,  each, 
of  course,  with  its  special  functions,  the  one  based  upon 
the  primary  sex  relation,  the  other  based  upon  the  com- 
mon interests  of  neighbors,  but  each  including  all  of  the 
people,  old,  middle-aged  and  young,  within  its  circle. 

This  then  is  the  first  matter  of  practical  politics  for 
a  neighborhood  organization  of  the  adult  citizenship  to 
take  up,  the  opening  of  the  building,  and  the  securing 
of  the  directing  service  which  will  make  it  a  club  house 
for  the  young  men  and  for  the  young  women  of  the 
community,  and  the  securing  of  a  combination  gym- 
nasium and  assembly  hall  which  will  equip  it  for  their 
recreation.  Here  is  use  of  the  building  for  at  least 
three  evenings  in  the  week,  one  for  adults,  one  for 
young  men,  and  one  for  young  women. 

This  is  not  enough,  for  there  is  one  essential  ele- 
ment left  out,  namely,  the  provision  for  general  gather- 
ing, when,  with  the  natural  chaperonage  of  their  fathers 
and  mothers  and  the  other  older  people  of  the  com- 
munity, the  young  men  and  young  women  may  have 
opportunity  for  getting  together  for  enjoyment  of 
wholesome  social  activities. 

There  is  no  problem  of  greater  importance  than  that 
of  supplying  youth  a  chance  to  become  acquainted  and 
to  associate  in  a  wholesome  environment;  for  the  char- 
acter of  the  future  home,  the  problem  of  divorce,  the 
problem  of  prostitution  are  all  tied  up  in  the  question 
as  to  the  sort  of  opportunity  which  young  men  and 
^young  women  have  for  decent  clean  recreation  together. 

Of  the  first  thousand  girls  committed  to  Bedford 
Reformatory,  the  majority  said  they  took  their  first 
downward  step  through  commercial  dance  hall  associ- 
ations. In  his  study  of  the  causes  of  prostitution,  Dr, 


PRACTICAL  POLITICS  143 

J.  P.  Warbasse  says  of  the  causes  that  operate  upon  the 
males:  "The  absence  of  good  feminine  society  in  the 
circles  of  youth  is  a  factor.  Social  contact  with  high 
minded  women  satisfies  the  craving  for  feminine  society 
and  deters  young  men  from  seeking  the  society  of  the 
opposite  type  of  women.  A  boy  who  has  friendships 
among  good  women  is  apt  to  be  ashamed  to  go  to  the 
lewd." 

To  say  that  this  problem  is  to  be  answered  by  making 
the  unit  home  attractive  is  to  ignore  the  great  fact 
that  between  fifteen  and  twenty-one  the  natural  instinct 
of  both  boys  and  girls  is  to  go  out  from  the  home, 
seeking  each  other's  company.  Where  shall  they  find 
and  become  acquainted  with  each  other?  This  is  no 
problem  of  a  particular  part  of  the  country.  It  is  not 
only  a  city  problem.  It  is  fundamental  and  common 
everywhere.  The  citizens  in  any  neighborhood,  coop- 
erating with  those  of  other  neighborhoods,  will  later 
grapple  with  and  find  the  answer  to  the  problems  of  in- 
ternational relationship,  but  when  they  aid  in  develop- 
ing the  right  ground  upon  which  the  nations  may  get 
together,  they  will  have  done  nothing  more  important, 
nothing  greater  than  when  they  have  brought  it  about 
that  the  young  men  and  young  women  of  their  own 
community  may  get  together  in  wholesome  social  inter- 
course. 

In  Chicago,  not  long  since,  the  social  starvation  of 
the  young  women  there  was  set  forth  in  the  proposal 
that  there  be  formed  "lonely  girls'  clubs."  It  is  on 
account  of  the  splendid  courage  of  young  women  that 
society  does  not  suffer  more,  from  the  failure  to  pro- 
vide in  every  neighborhood  a  place  of  wholesome  social 
gathering.  Where  this  normal  wholesome  desire  for 
social  enjoyments  is  not  expressed  in  unwholesome 


144  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

ways,  society  suffers  both  from  the  results  of  mismating 
due  to  the  fact  that  young  men  and  young  women  have 
no  opportunity  for  wide  acquaintanceship  before  be- 
trothal and  by  the  loss  of  that  natural  springtime  joy 
in  life  which  comes  into  any  community  when  young 
men  and  women  find  wholesome  association. 

Not  in  the  city  only  are  young  men  and  young 
women  lonely.  Here  is  a  letter  from  a  country  girl  that 
was  read  at  the  Southwestern  Social  Center  Conference 
last  February.  It  says  something  which  ought  to  be  of 
interest  to  those  who  are  taking  up  the  cry  "back  to 
the  farm,"  for  it  tells  the  secret  of  the  lure  of  the 
city  to  both  country  girls  and  boys  who  do  not  realize 
that  congestion  of  population  is  not  social  life: 

May  I  just  tell  you  how  my  neighbor  girls  and  I  live? 
Our  day  begins  at  four  o'clock  A.M.  Supper  is  never  served 
before  eight  o'clock;  the  work  is  done  by  nine;  then  we 
have  time  to  read,  if  we  are  not  too  tired.  More  than  once 
I  have  known  girls  to  sleep  on  the  floor  because  they  were 
too  tired  to  prepare  for  bed.  Aside  from  the  housework,  I 
have  been  called  upon  many  times  to  help  with  the  outdoor 
work.  This  is  not  uncommon,  and  we  count  it  no  hardship 
to  work  in  the  fields,  even  though  the  sun  is  hot.  We  usually 
like  the  change,  but  the  work  is  so  heavy  that  we  should 
not  do  it. 

But  the  work  is  not  the  worst;  there  is  nothing  to  think 
about,  nothing  to  which  to  go.  Suppose  we  go  to  town. 
When  our  business  is  transacted  we  must  stand  around  the 
stores  or  on  the  streets,  sometimes  to  have  the  town  folks 
make  fun  of  our  funny  clothes,  until  the  men  get  ready  to 
go  home. 

Among  the  girls  with  whom  I  went  to  school  were  five 
who  belonged  to  one  family;  they  are  splendid  girls,  as  good 
as  any  I  have  ever  known.  These  girls  have  been  obliged 
to  stop  going  to  school  when  twelve  years  of  age,  and  settle 


PRACTICAL  POLITICS  145 

down  to  a  life  of  drudgery.  They  haven't  life.  In  the  fam- 
ily of  their  next-door  neighbor  three  daughters  died  from 
consumption.  One  girl  walked  three  or  four  miles  through 
deep  snow  to  attend  a  party. 

How  can  we  expect  girls  to  stay  in  the  country  when 
there  is  absolutely  nothing  to  do  but  work  or  get  married? 
One  of  my  schoolmates  was  married  at  sixteen  and  divorced 
before  she  was  eighteen  years  old;  another  married  at  four- 
teen. My  father  asked  a  neighbor  boy  what  papers  they 
read  at  his  home.  He  said:  "We  don't  read  any;  we  have 
no  time  during  the  day,  and  we  can't  waste  the  coal-oil  at 
night." 

The  question  of  social  gatherings  is  really  a  question  of 
social  and  intellectual  life  and  death  to  us  who  are  country 
girls. 

What  is  the  sort  of  activity  which  young  men  and 
women  crave  in  their  association?  Musical  expression 
together,  dramatic  expression  together,  but  more  than 
either,  dancing,  which  combines  both  musical  and  dra- 
matic expression  and  which  is,  more  than  any  other, 
the  natural  and  normal  recreation  for  the  association  of 
young  men  and  young  women. 

When  one  observes  that  the  repression  of  the  de- 
sire to  dance  on  the  part  of  young  people,  especially 
in  the  country  and  in  small  towns,  leads  to  the  expression 
of  the  normal  and  wholesome  impulse  in  silly  clandestine 
and  often  sexually  harmful  kissing  games,  one  is  tempted 
to  denounce  the  stupid,  distorted  puritanism  of  the  men 
and  women  who  make  it  necessary  for  young  people 
to  go  to  unwholesome  places  in  order  to  dance.  There 
is  reason,  however,  for  objection  to  dancing  among 
young  people  as  usually  practiced.  Dancing  is  a  social 
confection.  It  is  like  pie,  or  cake  or  ice-cream.  If  the 
whole  meal  is  made  up  of  pastry,  it  is  weakening  and 
harmful.  But  as  a  dessert  at  the  end  of  a  substantial 


146  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

meal,  it  is  not  unwholesome.  If  young  people  gather 
for  an  evening  and  do  nothing  but  dance,  it  is  dissipa- 
tion. Suppose,  however,  that  the  program  of  the  evening 
begins  with  a  half  hour's  good  orchestral  and  choral 
music,  and  then  for  forty  minutes  there  is  given  a 
thought  inspiring  lecture;  and  suppose  that  the  gather- 
ing is  made  up  not  only  of  the  young  people,  but  of 
their  fathers  and  mothers  and  the  older  people  of  the 
community.  Then,  if  the  program  closes  with  an  hour's 
dancing,  instead  of  being  harmful,  dancing  becomes  as 
fine  as  that  in  a  home;  for,  indeed  the  broadened  spirit 
of  home,  the  fine  clean  human  spirit  of  neighborhood  is 
there. 

A  suggestion  of  what  this  opening  of  the  schoolhouse 
for  the  young  men  and  boys  of  the  neighborhood  means 
is  given  in  the  words  of  a  merchant  whose  place  of 
business  is  near  the  first  schoolhouse  to  be  fully  equipped 
and  opened  as  a  social  center  in  Rochester.  He  stopped 
the  neighborhood  civic  secretary  on  the  street  one  day 
to  say: 

"The  social  center  has  accomplished  what  I  had  re- 
garded as  impossible.  I  have  been  here  nine  years  and 
during  that  time  there  has  always  been  a  gang  of  toughs 
around  these  corners  which  has  been  a  continual  nui- 
sance. This  winter  that  gang  has  disappeared." 

"They  aren't  a  gang  any  more,"  answered  the  neigh- 
borhood secretary. 

The  value  of  this  club  association  for  young  fellows 
in  the  same  building  that  is  used  as  a  citizens'  com- 
mon council  headquarters,  in  calling  out  the  splendid 
best  that  is  in  them  and  tending  to  train  for  civic  self- 
respect,  is  suggested  in  an  incident  that  occurred  about  a 
month  after  one  of  the  schoolhouses  was  opened  for  the 
use  of  the  young  men  and  older  boys  of  the  neighbor- 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  147 

hood.  A  plaster  statue  that  stood  in  one  of  the  halls 
was  maliciously  injured.  When  the  club  heard  of  it, 
they  appointed  a  house  committee  to  watch  out  for 
further  vandalism.  The  culprit  was  not  discovered. 
But  the  club  assessed  itself  eleven  dollars  and  raised 
the  money  to  replace  the  statue.  There  was  no  other 
injury  to  the  property  in  any  social  center.  One  Sunday 
afternoon  (after  the  first  year  the  centers  in  Rochester 
were  opened  on  Sunday  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
ministers'  association  of  that  city)  occurred  this  incident : 

The  general  civic  secretary  dropped  in  about  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon.  When  he  entered,  not  seeing 
the  boys  about,  he  asked  the  guide  at  the  door  where 
they  were. 

"They're  holding  a  meeting  in  the  art  room,"  he  an- 
swered. 

"Who  is  with  them  ?"  asked  the  secretary. 

"Nobody," 'was  the  response. 

"Don't  you  know  that  they  shouldn't  be  in  that  room 
without  a  club  director  present?" 

"I  have  been  listening  from  the  hall  and  they  seem 
to  be  orderly." 

The  secretary  went  to  the  art  room,  and,  opening  the 
door,  found  some  forty  young  fellows,  ranging  about 
seventeen  or  eighteen  years  of  age,  sitting  in  order,  the 
president  in  his  chair,  the  secretary  beside  him,  keeping1 
the  minutes  of  the  meeting,  and  one  of  the  youths  on  his 
feet  presenting  the  claims  of  the  Democratic  candidate 
for  the  presidency.  The  guest  sat  down  to  listen  to 
the  debate.  After  the  speaker  had  used  his  allotted 
time  the  floor  was  given  to  a  rival  claimant,  and  so  an 
orderly  triangular  debate  was  carried  through.  When 
it  was  over,  it  was  learned  that  a  dispute  had  been 
started  in  the  hall  over  the  relative  merits  of  the  sev- 


148  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

eral  candidates.  A  year  before,  if  these  fellows  had  been 
interested  at  all  in  such  a  question,  a  dispute  would  have 
led  to  loud  contradictions,  possibly  blows.  In  the  midst 
of  the  discussion  in  the  hall  it  was  suggested  that  in 
order  to  give  everybody  a  fair  show  they  should  hold  a 
formal  debate.  None  of  these  fellows  was  a  school  boy, 
and  some  of  them  were  of  the  "naturally  agin'  the  gov- 
ernment" type. 

-V  The  most  significant  effect  of  the  organization  of  the 
young  women  and  girls  and  their  use  of  the  center  as  a 
civic  club  house  was  the  deepening  of  their  interest  in 
life,  which  shifted  their  chief  attention  from  superficial 
personal  adornment  to  more  important  things.  This 
came  partly  from  their  physical  training  and  partly  from 
the  development  of  a  sincere  natural  acquaintance  with 
the  young  men  of  the  neighborhood.  It  was  expressed 
in  this  bit  of  doggerel  which  one  of  the  girls'  clubs  pro- 
duced : 

We  girls  who  used  to  pose  in  front 
Of  mirrors  half  the  day, 

Now  have  the  roses  in  our  cheeks — 
Our  powder's  thrown  away. 

We  know  that  brains  are  more  than  hats, 
That  heads  are  more  than  hair. 

We're  here  because  we  mean  to  be 
Useful  as  well  as  fair. 

As  in  the  household,  the  adult  members  have  their 
special  counselings,  so  in  the  social  center  the  adult  citi- 
zens have  their  special  evening  when  the  serious  business 
of  democracy  is  considered;  as  the  boys  in  a  household 
have  their  own  room  or  rooms,  so  the  "Coming  Civic 
Club"  of  the  neighborhood  has  its  own  evening;  as  the 
girls  in  a  household  have  their  own  rooms,  so  in  the 
neighborhood  use  of  the  schoolhouse  they  have  their  time 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  149 

of  exclusive  use  of  the  building.  The  general  evening  is 
the  gathering  of  the  whole  community  group,  as  the 
family  gathers  in  the  household,  all  together,  for  such 
fine  enjoyments  as  are  common  to  the  whole  group.  This 
is  the  heart  and  hearth  of  the  neighborhood.  It  is  in 
this  communal  gathering  of  the  whole  neighborhood 
family,  with  music  at  the  opening,  and  then  a  lecture  or 
entertainment,  supplemented,  perhaps,  by  motion  pictures, 
followed  by  an  hour's  wholesome  intercourse,  usually 
with  dancing  or  other  form  of  free  enjoyment,  that  the 
living,  creative  communal  spirit,  the  spirit  that  sings,  is 
released. 

Of  such  a  general  evening,  a  visitor  at  a  center  said: 
"In  the  room  were  gathered  the  fathers,  the  mothers, 
the  grand-fathers,  the  grand-mothers,  the  young  men 
and  the  young  women,  and,  oh,  it  was  good  to  see.  I 
stepped  up  beside  the  wheel  chair  of  an  old  Hollander. 
He  was  a  paralytic,  but  his  heart  beat  high,  and  his 
quavering  old  voice  was  sweet  with  the  hope  of  youth, 
and  he,  too,  sang.  No  one  could  look  upon  that  scene 
and  not  feel  a  better  man,  a  better  woman.  We  had 
half  an  hour  of  song  and  a  half  hour  of  talk,  and  then 
we  had  some  dancing  and  I  saw  the  finest  thing  I  have 
seen  in  years;  the  fathers  danced  with  their  daughters, 
the  mothers  grown  young  again  danced  with  their  sons. 
Weren't  they  happy  ?  Indeed,  they  were.  I  saw  a  vision 
of  the  future,  a  vision  with  a  promise.  No  one  could 
come  there  and  not  be  thrilled  to  higher  endeavor,  finer, 
stronger,  and  better  effort,  purer  service  and  more  fra- 
ternal love."  , 

This  spirit  does  not  find  itself  merely  by  the  gathering 
of  neighbors  together,  without  having  back  of  it  such 
waking  of  democracy  as  comes  through  the  serious  dis- 
cussion of  public  questions  by  the  adults,  meeting  to- 
ll 


150  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

gether,  and  such  training  in  self-government  as  comes 
through  the  young  men's  meeting  by  themselves  and  the 
young  women's  meeting  by  themselves,  each  group  on 
its  own  evening.  It  is  when  these  parts  of  the  community 
group  have  found,  each  its  common  interest,  and  then 
these  parts  are  brought  together  that  the  air  is  clarified, 
and  the  common  feeling  of  the  neighborhood  is  born. 

Col.  R.  E.  Smith  is  a  very  practical  farmer  of  Sher- 
man, Texas.  Like  most  men  in  our  commercial  eco- 
nomically-unadjusted time,  he  has  been  forced  to  meas- 
ure values  in  terms  of  material  things.  Things  of  the 
spirit  are  worthy  or  not  in  proportion  as  they  register  in 
wealth  increase.  He  said,  in  speaking  of  the  social  cen- 
ter, and  especially  of  the  general  evening  gathering: 

"I  will  be  candid  with  you,  that  I  paid  little  attention 
to  the  social  center  idea  when  I  first  heard  of  it,  but 
I  want  to  say  that  my  ideas  of  farming  have  almost 
been  revolutionized,  transformed.  It  seems  entirely  dif- 
ferent now.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  I  have  taken  more 
interest  in  my  neighbors,  become  acquainted  with  them 
on  the  common  ground  of  the  social  center,  makes  me 
like  them  better,  makes  them  like  me  better,  and  con- 
sequently makes  us  both  do  better;  anyhow  things  are 
in  a  more  prosperous  condition  now  than  ever  before. 
This  movement  will  do  good  in  many  ways.  People  get 
together,  causing  them  to  understand  each  other,  and 
the  young  people  are  fired  with  ambition,  and  if  this 
goes  on — better  corn  will  be  raised  over  Texas  than 
there  ever  was  before." 

But  there  is  a  more  important  standard  of  values  in 
this  country  to-day  than  even  that  of  economic  efficiency 
—it  is  the  standard  of  democratic  efficiency,  for  in  the 
development  of  political  capacity  lies  the  hope  of  intelli- 
gently solving  the  great  problems  of  economic  and  social 


PRACTICAL   POLITICS  151 

adjustment,  and  this  is  the  effect  of  which  Governor  Wil- 
son speaks,  the  effect  of  so  bringing  the  parts  of  the 
community  together  that  there  may  be  expressed  the 
common  impulse. 

"There  is  no  sovereignty  of  the  people  if  the  several 
sections  of  the  people  be  at  loggerheads  with  one  another. 
Sovereignty  comes  with  cooperation;  sovereignty  comes 
with  the  quick  pulses  of  sympathy,  sovereignty  comes  by 
common  impulse." 

Here  then  is  the  first  matter  to  be  taken  up  by  any 
neighborhood  organization  of  the  citizenship,  the  "un- 
finished business"  of  establishing  the  use  of  this  neigh- 
borhood house  as  a  club  for  young  men,  and  for  young 
women,  and  as  a  common  place  of  social  gathering  for 
the  whole  community.  And  this,  not  only  because  of 
the  need  of  the  young  people,  and  not  only  because  in 
this  way  is  laid  the  foundation  for  the  practical  answer 
to  the  question :  How  and  where  shall  we  develop  the 
folk  art,  the  folk  music,  the  folk  drama  of  America? 
With  this  organization  is  established  the  foundation  rock 
of  democratic  sense,  the  clarity  of  vision  and  the  power 
without  which  democracy  is  impossible. 

When  the  neighboring  citizens  have  established  this 
basis  of  the  complete  social  center,  then  the  gathering 
there  of  cooperation  in  health  and  dental,  cultural  and 
informational  service,  and  the  centering  there  of  com- 
munity enterprises  of  all  kinds  are  sure  to  come  as  the 
expressions  of  the  unified  life  and  thought  and  will  of 
the  community.  Here  is  the  realization  of  practical 
politics  within  the  neighborhood,  without  which  politics 
in  the  wider  reach  of  the  city,  the  state,  the  nation  cannot 
be  practical ;  for  without  this  basis,  in  which  the  sepa- 
rated pebbles  and  sand  grains  are  cemented  together  in 
common  feeling,  democracy  has  no  firm  understanding. 


CHAPTER   VII 

WHAT  WE  HAVE — WHAT  WE  WANT 

"What  is  the  debt  of  your  city? 

"Is  there  a  legal  limit  to  the  bonded  debt,  and  has  it 
been  reached? 

"Do  you  remember  the  tax  rate? 

"What  is  the  total  valuation,  or  assessment  for  tax 
purposes  ? 

"Do  you  know  what  the  basis  of  the  assessment  is?" 

These  are  the  questions  which  J.  Horace  McFarland, 
President  of  the  American  Civic  Association,  asked  of 
citizens  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  He  makes  the 
fact  that  he  nowhere  received  satisfactory  answers  to 
these  questions  the  theme  of  an  article,  which  appeared 
some  time  ago  in  the  Outlook,*  entitled  "The  Ignorance 
of  'Good'  Citizens." 

In  these  questions  is  expressed  the  attitude  of  the 
men  who  would  have  citizens  regard  their  membership 
in  the  city  as  stockholdership  in  a  business  enterprise. 
If  citizenship  is  that,  then  the  important  "primary 
facts"  (Mr.  McFarland  italicises  the  word)  for  one  to 
know  about  his  city,  are  the  financial  facts.  If  the  city 
is  simply  a  business  corporation,  and  citizenship  is 
simply  stockholdership,  then  why  should  the  citizens,  the 
stockholders,  interfere  with  their  officials,  the  directors 
in  running  the  business  ? 

*  January  3,  1906. 
152 


WHAT  WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE  WANT      153 

The  general  ignorance  regarding  these  financial  mat- 
ters signifies  that  the  average  citizen  does  not  regard 
his  membership  in  the  city  as  mere  stockholdership  in 
a  business  corporation. 

What  does  the  average  citizen  know  about  his  city? 

He  knows  the  population.  Mr.  McFarland  says,  "I 
never  knew  one  to  fail  on  the  population!"  and  he  says 
it  with  a  disdainful  exclamation  point,  as  though  this 
knowledge  were  unimportant,  and  the  citizen's  possession 
of  this  knowledge  were  without  significance. 

This  fact  that,  while  practically  nobody  can  tell  "the 
total  valuation  or  assessment  for  tax  purposes,"  prac- 
tically every  citizen  can  tell  the  population  of  his  town 
is  of  the  greatest  significance,  for  it  indicates  that  the 
interest  of  the  citizen  is  naturally,  primarily  and  con- 
tinually— not  financial  or  business,  but  human  interest. 
It  indicates  something  more  and  deeper  than  that.  It 
shows  that  we  are  involuntarily,  unconsciously,  but  surely 
reaching  out  with  the  feeling  that  the  city  is  more  than 
a  financial  corporation,  that  it  has  the  character  of  a 
larger  family  group.  For  this  pride  in  numbers  is  not 
confined  to  the  men  who  own  real  estate,  or  whose 
interest  may  be  accounted  for  on  other  commercial 
grounds;  it  is  common  to  the  man  who  has  nothing  to 
gain  by  increased  population ;  and  it  is  the  same  feeling 
which  the  primitive  man,  the  Abraham,  the  Isaac,  the 
Lot,  of  every  race  had  in  regarding  it  as  a  blessing  to 
have  a  great  household. 

The  whole  publicity-of-accounts  hope  of  "good  govern- 
ment" has  been  built  up  on  this  theory  that  the  city 
or  the  state  is  merely  a  financial  corporation;  and  the 
practically  universal  ignoring  of  the  city  treasurer's  re- 
port by  the  average  citizen  is  the  declaration  that  this 
theory  will  not  do.  Finding  that  citizens  do  not  grasp 


154  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  significance  of  fiscal  statements,  and,  for  the  most 
part,  do  not  read  them,  when  submitted  in  pamphlets 
or  in  dry  formal  lists  of  figures  in  the  daily  press,  there 
has  begun  the  city  budget  exhibit  method,  first  used  by 
the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  in  New  York  City. 
There  in  1908,  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  public 
money  was  spent  in  attempting  to  set  forth  in  a  popular 
and  sensational  way  the  city  treasurer's  report.  A  good 
many  people  came  and  admired  the  ingenuity  by  which 
Dr.  William  H.  Allen  and  his  staff  had  attempted  to 
make  poetry  and  pictures  out  of  a  financial  statement. 
The  city  refused,  however,  to  become  deeply  excited  or 
stirred  or  inspired.  "It  is  a  splendid  way  of  bringing 
home  to  taxpayers  the  knowledge  of  what  their  money 
buys,"  said  the  mayor  of  another  city  on  visiting  the  first 
New  York  Budget  Exhibit;  and  in  this  comment  he 
stated  the  necessary  limitation  of  this  method  of  making 
the  city  known  to  the  citizen  by  talking  merely  in  terms 
of  dollars  and  cents.  It  is  an  appeal  to  the  citizen  in 
his  capacity  of  "taxpayer,"  that  is,  on  his  dried-up,  un- 
interested and  splendidly  unresponsive  side.  The  city 
is  more  than  finance,  and  the  citizen  is  very  much  more 
than  a  taxpayer. 

The  leaders  in  the  movement  for  the  city's  self  reali- 
zation are  beginning  to  recognize  that  the  vision  is  not 
to  be  brought  down  to  earth  by  appealing  simply  to  the 
financial  interest  of  citizens  as  merely  taxpayers.  Prac- 
tical students  are  moving  on  to  another  conception. 

At  the  First  National  Conference  on  Social  Center 
Development,  George  E.  Hooker  of  Chicago  expressed 
this  more  practical,  because  more  human,  understanding 
of  the  problem.  He  spoke  in  terms  of  the  large  city, 
but  what  he  said  applies,  so  far  as  it  goes,  to  the  prob- 
lem of  the  small  town  and  rural  community. 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE   WANT      155 
He  said: 

Fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago  some  of  us  who  were  then 
actively  attacking  the  housing  problem,  struggling  with 
franchise  questions,  bewailing  the  architectural  ugliness,  or 
trying  to  remedy  the  lack  of  wholesome  recreational  oppor- 
tunities in  the  cities,  were  separately  seeing  only  unsatis- 
factory conditions,  and  scarcely  one  of  us  was  finding  any- 
thing that  was  promising.  Then  there  came  into  the  air 
the  phrase  "city  planning/'  and  it  seemed  like  the  clearing 
of  a  clouded  sky.  The  idea  which  that  phrase  fastened  upon 
the  mind  was  that  cities  could  be  planned  as  well  as  build- 
ings. And  to-day  any  self-respecting  city  in  this  country 
has  on  its  front  counter  a  book  of  greater  or  less  size,  well 
illustrated  with  one  or  two  colored  maps  setting  forth  pro- 
posals for  its  general  physical  improvement.  We  are  going 
to  do  a  great  deal  in  that  line  in  the  next  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. We  have  done  considerable  studying  and  some  execu- 
tion. If  Germany,  if  Sweden,  if  England,  if  Australia,  if 
Japan,  if  South  America  can  build  cities  in  an  original,  eco- 
nomic, sanitary,  beautiful  manner,  we  can,  and,  of  course, 
we  are  going  to.  For  we  have  just  as  large  resources,  and, 
indeed,  somewhat  more  than  any  of  them.  We  have  all  the 
facilities  and  resources  of  modern  science,  and  we  are  going 
to  remove  some  of  the  legal  obstacles  so  that  we  will  get 
freedom  for  constructive  action.  We  will  go  ahead. 

Then  the  question  is,  What  kind  of  cities  are  we  going 
to  have?  We  may  have  a  city  whose  physical  framework 
has  been  dominated  by  military  accident  or  intention,  as 
the  long  streets  of  Paris  mark  the  location  of  her  historic 
walls,  and  her  boulevards  are  laid  out  so  as  to  make  it  pos- 
sible for  cannon  to  command  long  stretches.  We  may  have 
a  city  that  is  more  or  less  a  show  town,  that  puts  up  a  brave 
front  for  visitors,  with  fine  avenues,  well  faqaded,  well 
flowered,  as  are  the  streets  of  the  capital  of  the  German 
empire,  but  with  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  population  living 
in  small  flats  in  the  rear,  opening  upon  areas  dark  and 


156  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

clammy,  and  facing  similar  flats  across  the  way;  or  a  city 
which  is  addressed  to  the  artistic  feeling,  like  Munich;  or 
a  city  whose  physical  framework  has  been  dominated  by 
railway  interests,  like  Chicago;  or  a  city  that  has  been 
largely  directed  by  commercial  and  landlord  interests,  like 
New  York. 

What  kind  of  city  are   we  going   to  have? 

The  city  that  is  in  the  minds  of  all  of  us  when  we  bring 
the  question  down  to  our  deep,  real  desire,  to  our  real  aspira- 
tion, is  a  people's  city,  not  a  city  which  has  some  particular 
architectural  expression,  but  simply  a  city  in  which  no  class, 
no  group,  no  part,  shall  have  been  overlooked,  a  city  that 
shall  not  be  dominated  in  the  interests  of  one  section  of  the 
community. 

Mr.  Hooker  then  expressed  the  value  of  citizenship- 
organization  and  social  center  development  as  a  means 
to  the  realization  of  this  ideal. 

How  shall  we  develop  that  kind  of  a  city,  a  people's  city? 
How  shall  we  find  out  what  the  people  need  and  what  they 
want?  We  shall  find  out  by  means  of  the  social  center. 
Without  this  practical  method  by  which  the  people  can 
be  concentrated,  consolidated,  by  which  they  can  express 
themselves  and  formulate  their  judgment  and  enforce  their 
will,  it  is  impossible  to  know  what  a  people's  city  is,  or  to 
plan  a  people's  city  or  to  build  a  people's  city.  With  the 
social  center  as  a  means  of  concerting  opinion,  as  a  means 
of  expression,  as  a  means  of  conference,  we  can  find  out 
and  we  can  adopt  methods  and  we  can  attain  the  result  of 
a  people's  city. 

This  is  more  practical.  When  citizens  are  recognized 
as  "people,"  and  not  merely  as  "taxpayers,"  progress  is 
being  made.  While  this  view  point  of  Mr.  Hooker's  is 
much  more  nearly  true  than  that  which  Mr.  McFarland 
and  Dr.  Allen  express,  it  is  still  impractical.  The  "peo- 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE   WANT      157 

pie's  city"  is  more  interesting  than  the  "taxpayers'  city/1 
but  there  is  a  very  real  difficulty  in  this  conception  of 
the  "people's"  city,  as  Mr.  Hooker  expresses  it,  and  this 
conception  is  far  from  that  which  is  essential  and  in- 
herent in  the  social  center  idea.  As  we  use  the  term 
"people"  we  always  mean  a  class,  which  excludes.  Not 
only  is  this  true  when  we  qualify  the  term  by  the 
adjective  "plain,"  which  excludes  those  who  are  good 
looking;  but  it  is  always  true.  When  we  refer  to  "the 
people"  we  do  not  mean  to  include  ourselves.  We  use 
the  third  person.  Notice  that  Mr.  Hooker  does  this. 
"We  shall  find  out  what  they  (the  people)  want." 

Now,  the  "people"  in  this  sense  in  which  Mr.  Hooker 
uses  the  term  can  never  realize  anything  in  city  plan- 
ning, nor  in  any  other  creative  expression.  For  it  is 
always  a  changing  aggregate,  shifting  with  each  indi- 
vidual. "The  people"  is  always  the  other  persons,  those 
who  are  not  "we."  The  difficulty  is  that  when  for  in- 
stance the  city  planners  set  themselves  apart  from  the 
"all  of  us"  and  wait  for  the  rest  of  us  to  plan,  it  is 
as  though  the  part  of  the  brain  of  an  individual  which 
is  especially  capable  of  planning  were  to  separate  itself 
from  the  rest  and  say,  "when  the  rest  formulates  a 
plan,  then  we  will  know  what  the  rest  wants."  It  is 
as  though  the  eyes  were  to  set  themselves  off  from 
the  rest  of  the  body  and  say,  "the  thing  we  want 
to  look  at  is  that  which  the  rest  of  the  body  enjoys 
looking  at."  It  is  only  when  the  specialized  part  of 
the  individual  brain  functions  as  one  with  and  a  part 
of  the  whole  brain  that  thought  is  possible  for  the  in- 
dividual. It  is  only  as  the  eyes  act  as  a  part  of  the 
individual  that  sight  is  possible.  The  whole  person 
thinks  with  the  specialized  parts  not  away  from,  but  of 
the  brain.  The  whole  person  sees  through  the  eyes. 


158  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

The  whole  city  is  capable  of  planning,  as  the  parts 
of  it  which  are  specialized  in  capacity  for  planning  act 
with  and  in  the  whole.  The  term  which  Mr.  Hooker 
should  have  used  was  not  "the  people" ;  for  this  does 
not  include  Mr.  Hooker,  and  he  must  be  included.  The 
term,  perhaps,  he  should  have  used  is  "folk"  or  "folks"; 
for  this,  as  spoken  by  the  individual,  does  not  exclude, 
but  includes,  himself.  It  is  not  "the  people"  but  "we 
folks"  who  find  creative  expression,  whether  in  music, 
or  drama,  or  in  other  arts.  Folk  songs,  folk  drama,  folk 
dancing — these  are  the  expression  of  the  spirit  which 
says  "we,"  not  "they."  A  city's,  a  town's,  a  nation's 
expression  can  never  be  characteristic,  genuine,  original, 
and  so,  true,  except  as  it  becomes  "folk"  expression,  ex- 
cept as  the  elite  each  of  us  identifies  himself  with  the 
great  common  all  of  us. 

This  is  the  spirit  for  which  the  social  center  furnishes 
the  means  of  expression.  The  social  center  makes  it 
possible  to  use  always,  in  regard  to  public  matters,  the 
first  person  plural,  instead  of  the  first  person  singular 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  third  person  plural  on  the 
other.  It  is  not  "I"  and  "they";  it  is  "we."  It  is  not 
"mine"  and  "theirs";  it  is  "ours."  This  is  the  spirit 
of  practical  politics  in  a  democracy. 
f  Aside  from  the  intrinsic  great  importance  of  supply- 
ing the  young  people  of  the  neighborhood  with  whole- 
some opportunity  for  association  and  recreation,  and 
the  inherent  benefit  to  be  derived  from  establishing  a 
general  evening  for  common  all-inclusive  assembling, 
which  shall  serve  as  a  melting  pot,  not  only  to  burn  out 
the  false  and  the  useless  in  the  latest  comers,  but  to 
burn  out  the  dross  in  those  of  us  who  came,  or  whose 
ancestors  came,  from  various  parts  of  the  world  on 
earlier  boats,  and  so  to  produce  unadulterated  men  and 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE  WANT      159 

women,  this  program  has  the  greatest  value  in 
putting  into  practise  the  all-inclusive  "our"  in  thinking 
of  and  striving  for  a  public  project.  The  opening  of 
the  schoolhouse  and  the  securing  of  the  necessary  super- 
vision for  its  use  as  the.  club  house  of  the  young  people, 
and  the  gathering  place  of  the  whole  community,  should 
be  regarded  as  the  "unfinished  business"  of  the  citizen- 
ship organization,  because  this  action  visualizes  in  a 
very  practical  way  the  community  of  interest  within  the 
neighborhood,  a  community  of  membership  centering  in 
a  community  of  ownership.  And  so  it  gives  a  standing 
ground  for  the  creative  "folk"  spirit,  the  sense  of  "we" 
and  "ours,"  and  a  starting  point  from  which  this  atti- 
tude toward  municipal  and  state  and  national  problems 
may  broaden. 

Of  course,  if  citizens  develop  neighborhood  spirit,  and 
stop  there,  it  is  only  a  little  less  bad  than  if  they  limit 
their  sense  of  fellowship  and  common  interest  at  the 
boundary  of  the  family  group.  In  its  very  nature,  this 
program  of  fully  developing  the  neighborhood  institution 
forbids  the  expression  merely  of  the  ingrowing  neighbor- 
hood spirit,  which  is  just  a  two  sizes  larger  selfishness. 
For  it  necessitates  cooperation  with  other  neighborhoods. 
To  be  sure,  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  in  some  rural 
communities  and  in  a  very  few  towns,  the  single  school 
district  is  autonomous,  but  even  where  this  is  the  case 
the  local  organization  of  the  electorate  cannot  develop  its 
social  center  fully,  without  the  cooperation  of  other 
neighborhoods  in  securing  worthy  programs,  it  cannot 
have  motion  picture  films,  for  instance,  except  through 
commercial  agencies,  unless  there  is  a  supply  available 
for  other  communities.  And  in  the  arrangement  of 
game  schedules  for  the  young  people,  and  of  a  system 
of  visitings,  for  debate,  et  cetera,  the  single  neighbor- 


160  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

hood  organization  cannot  really  live  if  it  tries  to  live 
only  within  itself. 

\  In  the  cities,  and  in  the  average  town  and  rural 
county,  the  individual  neighborhood  organization  cannot 
gain  for  itself  any  opening  or  equipment  of  the  building, 
nor  any  securing  of  supervision  except  by  obtaining 
equal  opportunity  for  all  of  the  other  neighborhoods  in 
the  city  or  rural  county  to  fully  use  their  neighborhood 
buildings.  That  is  to  say,  if  the  citizens  of  any  district 
decide  that  they  want  their  building  equipped  with  gym- 
nasium and  baths,  and  supplied  with  lectures  and  enter- 
tainments, then  they  must  at  once,  in  order  to  achieve 
this  neighborhood  benefit,  enter  the  sphere  of  municipal 
politics,  and  unite  with  other  organizations  in  bringing 
about  the  common  benefit  to  the  whole  city. 

^  It  may  be  that  the  school  board  is  of  the  type  which 
Rochester  had  when  social  center  development  began 
in  that  city ;  that  is,  a  committee  of  the  citizenship,  which 
recognizes  the  right  of  the  citizens  to  have  their  property 
put  to  larger  beneficial  uses  and  which  also  has  in  hand 
i  funds  for  this  purpose.  The  Rochester  school  board 
adopted  and  published  a  set  of  rules  by  which,  not  only 
might  the  citizens  in  any  neighborhood  use  their  school 
building  as  a  neighborhood  civic  club  house  for  adults; 
but,  upon  the  request  of  the  citizens'  organization  in  any 
neighborhood,  the  building  might  be  opened  for  use  of 
the  young  people,  the  young  men  and  young  women  on 
separate  evenings,  with  proper  equipment  and  super- 
vision, and  for  use  as  a  branch  public  library,  a  lecture 
and  entertainment  center,  et  cetera. 

It  may  be,  as  in  the  case  of  Milwaukee,  that  the  school 
board  is  favorable  to  this  project,  but  has  no  funds  for 
moj&  than  the  use  by  adults  for  discussion  meetings.  In 
this  case,  the  necessity  is,  of  course,  in  order  to  secure 


WHAT  WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE  WANT      161 

the  further  systematic  use  of  the  buildings,  to  have  an 
appropriation  made.  In  Milwaukee  that  was  the  situa- 
tion, and  the  people  were  given  an  opportunity  to 
vote  upon  and  to  endorse,  as  they  did,  the  invest- 
ment of  eighty-eight  thousand  dollars  in  this  enter- 
prise. 

It  may  be,  however,  as  was  the  case  in  Denver,  that 
the  school  board  recognizes  no  rights  on  the  part  of 
the  citizens  to  the  wider  use  of  their  property,  or  to 
say  anything  about  its  being  opened  for  the  use  of  the 
young  men  or  young  women,  or  for  recreational  or 
other  purposes.  If  this  is  the  situation,  then  there  is 
no  possible  means  by  which  the  citizens  may  more 
quickly  and  vividly  "see  the  cat"  than  to  have  their 
school  board  refuse  them  the  full  use  of  these  neigh- 
borhood buildings.  In  the  Rocky  Mountain  Neivs,  of 
December  3,  1911,  in  a  signed  editorial,  George  Creel 
said:  'The  thing  is  bound  to  come,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  for  it  is  part  and  parcel  of  democracy.  Nothing 
can  stop  it.  Denver  can  take  its  choice  between  getting 
in  with  the  vanguard,  or  trailing  along  in  the  rear.  As 
for  the  school  board,  let  this  word  be  said  to  them  in 
all  kindness :  If  they  will  grant  the  request  of  the  peo- 
ple, realizing  that  mere  election  did  not  vest  ownership 
of  the  buildings  in  them,  the  social  center  idea  will 
come  in  peace  and  utmost  good  will.  But  let  them  take 
the  attitude  that  the  people  must  not  be  allowed  to  use 
their  own  buildings  for  purposes  of  meeting  and  dis- 
cussion, the  social  center  idea  will  come  with  the  sweep 
of  a  storm,  and  all  the  blotters  in  the  world  will  be 
needed  to  gather  up  their  political  remains."  The  next 
spring  came  the  turnover  in  Denver.  To  be  sure,  this 
municipal  house  cleaning  was  not  due  alone  to  the  re- 
fusal of  the  school  board  to  allow  the  school  buildings 


162  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

to  be  fully  used,  but  when  the  president  of  the  board 
said,  regarding  the  request  of  the  citizens,  that  "the 
people  in  the  city  hall"  do  not  like  this  idea  and  that 
therefore  the  request  should  not  be  granted,  it  helped 
very  materially  to  reveal  clearly  the  allegiance  of  "the 
people  in  the  city  hall." 

Supposing  that  the  neighborhood  organization  of  the 
citizens  has  taken  up  and  acted  upon  the  matter  of  pro- 
viding for  the  full  use  of  its  community  building ;  it 
is  now  ready  to  give  its  attention  to  the  wider  problems 
of  city,  state  and  nation,  for  whose  solution  its  mem- 
bers share  the  final  responsibility.  If  the  organization  is 
formed  at  the  time  of  a  "campaign,"  it  is  in  order  that 
invitations  be  given  to  have  the  claims  of  the  various 
candidates  presented  before  it. 

Congressman  Perkins,  in  opening  such  a  pre-election 
series  on  "Why  Vote  for  Taft?",  "Why  Vote  for 
Bryan?",  "Why  Vote  for  Debs?",  "Why  Vote  for  Cha- 
fin?"  before  the  first  neighborhood  organization  formed 
in  Rochester,  four  years  ago,  said :  "This  is  a  most 
practical  method  of  preparing  for  the  intelligent  selection 
of  a  president."  Obviously,  in  the  consideration  of  the 
qualifications  of  men  for  the  presidency  it  is  not  feasible 
for  each  neighborhood  club  to  have  each  of  the  various 
candidates  appear  before  it  in  person;  but  it  is  possible 
to  have  advocates  of  each  present  his  claims,  and  it  is 
feasible  to  have  each  candidate  speak,  upon  the  invita- 
tion and  under  the  auspices  of  the  city  or  town  league 
or  federation  of  neighborhood  clubs,  assembled  in  gen- 
eral meeting.  The  same  is  true,  of  course,  of  candidates 
for  state  office. 

In  the  case  of  applicants  for  municipal  or  local  po- 
sitions, however,  it  is  feasible  to  have  each  candidate 
appear  in  person  to  tell  why  he  thinks  he  should  be 


WHAT  WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE  WANT      163 

chosen,  and  to  answer  questions.  William  Beard,  in 
opening  the  program  in  which  each  of  the  candidates  for 
alderman  of  the  ward  presented  his  claims  before  a  newly 
formed  civic  club  in  Rochester,  said :  "I  understand 
that  we  are  here  for  a  three- fold  purpose;  first,  that 
the  voters  may  see  what  sort  of  men  we  are  who  are 
seeking  office;  second,  that  we  may  tell  what  has  been 
the  history  of  our  relation  to  the  ward  we  seek  to 
represent;  third,  that  we  may  tell  what  we  mean  to  do 
if  elected." 

In  the  meeting  of  one  of  the  neighborhood  organiza- 
tions in  Madison,  Wisconsin,  which  began  its  usefulness 
by  inviting  the  several  candidates  for  mayor  to  speak 
before  it,  one  of  them  said :  "Even  if  I  should  not  be 
elected,  I  shall  be  glad  I  ran,  since  my  candidacy  has 
given  me  this  opportunity  to  talk  before  an  audience 
free  from  partisan  bias,  to  tell  how  I  think  our  munici- 
pal affairs  should  be  conducted,  to  hear  the  ideas  of 
others  and  to  hear  what  others  think  of  my  ideas,  and 
so  to  become  acquainted  with  my  fellow  citizens  in  this 
town." 

If  there  are  not  only  candidacies  to  be  voted  on  at 
the  approaching  election,  but  amendments,  bond  issues, 
or  other  specific  propositions,  these  should  of  course  be 
made  the  topics  of  meetings  in  which  the  arguments 
for  and  against  each  are  presented  by  the  best  propo- 
nents and  opponents  securable,  and  thus  laid  open  for 
intelligent  discussion  by  the  citizens.  At  the  meeting  in 
which  the  movement  for  citizenship-organization  and  so- 
cial center  development  was  inaugurated  in  the  city  of 
Racine,  Mayor  Goodland  said :  "This  project  seems  to 
me  altogether  good;  but  when  I  think  of  the  specific 
bond  issue  that  is  soon  to  be  decided  on,  this  proposed 
organization  seems  not  only  good,  but  immediately  nee- 


164  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

essary,  for  in  no  other  way  can  that  question  receive 
the  unbiased  consideration  its  importance  merits." 

If  the  citizens'  organization  is  formed  soon  after  an 
election,  then  it  is  a  good  plan  to  offer  an  early  oppor- 
tunity for  newly  elected  officials  to  meet  the  citizens  and 
to  set  forth  the  programs  which  they  mean  to  carry 
out.  As  a  rule,  the  official  of  whatever  rank,  welcomes 
such  opportunity.  One  mayor  said  on  such  an  occasion : 
'This  gives  me  a  chance  to  find  out  whether  you  people 
are  going  to  be  behind  me  in  what  I  am  to  do,  or 
whether  I  am  headed  for  trouble."  Obviously,  having 
state  and  national  officers  appear  before  the  citizens  to 
explain  their  programs  is  not  so  easily  feasible  as  in  the 
case  of  local  officers,  but  where  it  is  convenient  for  these 
agents  of  the  citizens  to  consult  their  principals  before 
they  enter  upon  new  sessions  of  legislature  or  congress, 
such  meetings  prove  beneficial  both  to  the  delegate  and 
to  the  citizens. 

If  there  is  no  special  business  of  this  kind  to  be 
taken  up,  then,  however  it  may  be  worded,  the  intelli- 
gent program  is  such  a  series  as  that  which  the  typical 
neighborhood  civic  club  in  Rochester  arranged,  under 
the  general  topic,  "What  we  have  and  'what  we  want." 

In  order  to  secure  the  advantages  of  orderly  arrange- 
ment and  sequence,  it  is  desirable  to  plan  a  series  of 
programs,  just  as  it  is  necessary  for  an  individual  or 
a  group,  starting  out  upon  a  journey,  to  have  an  itiner- 
ary. To  be  sure,  this  arrangement  should  be  so  flexi- 
ble, as  always  to  allow  for  change  as  the  season  advances, 
or  for  interruption  for  the  consideration  of  special  ques- 
tions as  they  arise. 

"What  we  have  and  what  we  want."  This  is  always 
the  logical  sequence  for  the  consideration  of  public 
questions,  although  it  is  not  the  usual  order  in  which 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE   WANT      165 

interest  is  developed  in  public  questions.  As  a  rule, 
"what  we  have"  is  noticed  and  interesting  only  when 
the  possible  "what  we  want"  suggested  by  what  some 
other  community  has,  has  been  noticed.  The  perpetual 
idealist  always  sees  things  as  they  are  as  wrong  and 
improvable,  the  jagged,  irregular  outlines  of  the  real 
always  stand  out  clearly  in  silhouette  against  the  light 
of  the  ideal.  He  is  never  indifferent,  because  he  sees 
always  a  difference,  a  contrast.  For  the  average  man, 
however,  the  "shades  of  the  prison  house"  of  custom 
so  dim  the  vision  that  he  loses  the  disturbing  sense  of 
contrast  between  things  as  they  are  and  as  they  might 
be.  He  is  indifferent  because  he  sees  no  difference.  He 
does  not  notice,  let  us  say,  the  club  in  the  belt  or  the 
hand  of  the  patrolman  on  the  street;  but  suppose  that 
he  visits  Toledo  and  has  his  attention  called  to  the  fact 
that  these  men  who  are  "hired  not  to  hurt  but  to  help" 
are  equipped  with  personality  and  intelligence  instead 
of  clubs.  When  he  goes  back  to  his  home  town,  he 
notices  the  clubs  his  home  town  policemen  carry. 

While  interest  is  most  frequently  awakened  in  the 
old,  by  first  seeing  the  new,  the  consideration  of  the 
desirability  of  change  should  usually  give  precedence 
to  the  presentation  of  things  as  they  are  and  the  defense 
of  the  existing  condition.  It  was  this  plan,  that  the 
neighborhood  association  in  Rochester  which  first  ar- 
ranged such  a  "what  we  have  and  what  we  want"  series, 
found  successful. 

For  instance,  in  considering  the  desirability  of  chang- 
ing to  the  commission  form  of  city  government,  one 
of  the  aldermen  was  first  invited  to  tell  the  duties  of 
an  alderman  and  to  give  the  arguments  for  the  existing 
method.  In  considering  the  street  railway  service,  the 
man  who  was  invited  to  speak  first  was  the  representa- 
12 


166  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

tive  of  the  corporation,  who  happened  to  be  the  general 
superintendent  of  the  city-lines.  In  a  forty-minute  ad- 
dress he  set  forth  the  facts  about  and  the  advantages 
of  "what  we  have."  The  address  that  followed  on 
"what  we  want"  was  given  by  a  man  who  had  recently 
returned  from  an  extended  investigation  of  the  street 
railway  service  abroad  and  who  believed  that  improve- 
ments might  be  made  in  the  Rochester  method.  Follow- 
ing these  two  addresses,  there  was  the  period  of  general 
discussion,  in  which  the  corporation  counsel  was  in- 
vited to  participate  and  to  advise  on  the  legal  aspects 
of  the  matter.  In  the  same  way,  such  a  topic  as  "Work- 
ing conditions  of  women  and  girls  in  department  stores" 
was  taken  up,  the  head  of  one  of  the  large  department 
stores  in  the  city  being  invited  to  tell  "what  we  have," 
a  labor  conditions  investigator  following  with  a  presen- 
tation of  "what  we  want."  In  the  same  way,  the  present 
and  the  possible  newspaper  service  was  set  forth. 
Similarly,  Rochester's  housing  conditions,  the  use  of  the 
Genesee  water  power,  the  method  of  taxation,  the  treat- 
ment of  immigrants,  the  public  school  service,  and  so  on, 
were  taken  up. 

Such  a  series  of  programs,  treating  of  specific  mat- 
ters, giving  opportunity  first  for  the  presentation  and 
defense  of  the  existing  condition,  then  for  the  presen- 
tation of  the  advantage  of  a  possible  change  or  acquisi- 
tion, is  sure  not  only  to  hold  the  interest  of  a  com- 
munity organization,  but  to  prove  constructive.  Such 
discussion  has  the  essential  drawing  power  of  a  contest 
in  which  the  instinct  for  fair  play  is  satisfied.  Real 
differences  are  expressed,  but  the  audience  being  made 
up  largely  of  those  who  have  not  previously  taken  sides, 
the  spirit  of  the  meetings  is  always  sure  to  tend  toward 
a  constructive  program.  It  is  never  the  arrangement  of 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE   WANT      167 

debate,  merely  for  the  sake  of  debate.  This  may  be, 
and  often  is,  valuable  in  the  organization  of  boys  and 
girls,  but  it  is  worthless  and  indeed  harmful  in  the 
gatherings  of  adult  citizens,  for  it  tends  to  develop  par- 
tition and  division  which  does  not  tend  to  eventuate  in 
agreement  and  in  action. 

Several  things  should  be  noted  about  this  method  of 
arranging  the  programs  of  a  neighborhood  civic  organi- 
zation. This  method  always  means  the  taking  up  of 
specific  propositions,  rather  than  disputing  over  large 
theories  of  political  economy.  The  theory  of  the  single 
taxer  or  the  socialist  or  the  high  tariff  man  has  oppor- 
tunity of  expression,  but  always  in  terms  of  specific 
things  to  be  done. 

It  means  the  consideration  of  practical  questions,  that 
is  problems,  whose  solutions  may  be  translated  into 
action. 

It  recognizes  that  the  citizenship  is  responsible,  not 
only  for  the  administration  of  that  part  of  its  business 
which  is  public  in  its  ownership,  but  also  for  that 
which,  while  it  is  private  in  ownership,  is  public  in  its 
service;  that  is,  "what  we  have  and  what  we  want  in 
newspaper  service"  is  considered  in  just  the  same  way  as 
"What  we  have  and  what  we  want  in  public  school 
service,"  it  being  recognized  that,  so  far  as  its  service 
is  concerned,  the  newspaper  is  a  public  educational  insti- 
tution as  much  as  is  the  school  system,  and  that  the 
final  responsibility  for  its  condition  is  upon  the  citizen- 
ship as  much  as  is  the  final  responsibility  for  the  condi- 
tion of  the  schools. 

This  same  general  method  applies  equally  to  the  con- 
sideration of  .the  citizens'  business  in  state  and  national 
spheres.  Indeed,  the  taking  up  of  problems  of  the 
municipality  almost  always  leads  to  the  consideration 


168  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  state  and  national  questions.  For  instance,  if  the 
citizens  in  the  average  town,  having  discussed  the  ques- 
tion of  establishing  a  municipal  lighting  plant  or  of 
changing  the  form  of  the  machinery  of  administration 
of  their  municipal  affairs,  have  decided  that  they  want 
to  establish  a  lighting  plant,  or  to  adopt  the  commission 
form,  then,  as  a  rule,  they  have  the  occasion  for  in- 
viting their  representatives  in  the  state  legislature  to 
come  and  explain  the  advantage  of  the  existing  policy 
and  laws  of  the  state,  and  to  learn  what  changes  the 
citizens  desire  in  the  state  legislation  in  order  to  empower 
them  to  do  these  things  in  the  city.  Or  suppose  the  ques- 
tions taken  up  are  such  as  the  high  cost  of  living,  or  any 
of  the  divisions  of  this  complex  and  pressing  problem. 
To  be  sure,  the  neighborhood  organization  may  establish 
a  cooperative  creamery  or  factory  or  store,  but  in  order 
to  intelligently  and  completely  discuss  this  sort  of  ques- 
tion, it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  move  into  the  national 
sphere,  and,  following  out  the  same  plan,  to  invite  the 
national  representatives  to  defend  the  existing  national 
policy,  and  in  turn  to  learn  what  the  people  want.  Ob- 
viously, as  compared  with  the  mere  gathering  to  protest 
against  bad  conditions,  this  method  of  giving  subcom- 
mittee members  the  opportunity  to  explain  what  they 
are  doing,  and  to  tell  what  they  propose  to  do  about 
specific  matters  of  common  interest  which  the  citizens 
have  put  into  their  hands  to  administer,  is  much  more 
sure  of  practical  result. 

There  is  one  very  important  aspect  of  this  citizenship- 
organization  for  "what  we  have  and  what  we  want"  dis- 
cussion, which  should  be  mentioned.  It  is  illustrated  in 
such  a  question  as  that  of  insect  and  fungus  pests.  Sup- 
pose a  neighborhood  is  visited  by  some  such  pest  as 
the  chestnut  blight,  which  brought  in  on  uninspected 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE  WANT      169 

Japanese  chestnut  grafts  has  destroyed  practically  every 
chestnut  tree  east  of  the  Hudson  River,  or  the  brown 
tail  moth  which  comes  from  France  and  Germany,  or 
the  San  Jose  scale  which  came  from  China. 

In  order  to  intelligently  consider  this  question,  the 
neighborhood  organization  will  send  to  the  department 
of  agriculture  at  Washington.  There  it  will  learn  that 
this  is  the  only  civilized  country  in  the  world  which  has 
no  adequate  plant  quarantine.  Here  is  a  question  to  be 
taken  up  with  the  senatorial  and  congressional  represen- 
tatives. Why,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  foreign  insect 
and  fungus  pests  have  not  all  reached  here  yet,  that,  for 
instance,  the  potato  wart  disease,  starting  from  Hungary, 
has  reached  Newfoundland,  and  is  likely  to  be  brought 
in  at  any  time  in  shipments  of  potatoes,  have  we  not  a 
plant  quarantine?  The  representative  may  explain  that 
the  reason  is  of  the  same  character  as  the  objections  to  the 
parcels  post,  which  John  Wanamaker  named  as  the  pri- 
vate express  companies ;  that  is,  he  may  explain  that  the 
reason  we  have  not  a  plant  quarantine  is  because  of  the 
private  lobby  of  nursery  men.  The  practical  outcome  of 
such  a  discussion  is  the  suggestion  that,  if  the  represen- 
tative puts  the  interests  of  the  nursery  men  before  the 
interests  of  the  citizens  who  sent  him  to  Washington, 
then  they  made  a  mistake  in  sending  him. 

The  establishment  of  a  plant  quarantine,  however,  is 
not  the  full  solution.  That  will  help  keep  out  these  un- 
desirable immigrants  in  the  future,  but  a  lot  of  them  are 
here  now — the  boll-weevil  from  Mexico,  the  European 
leopard  moth,  and  the  rest.  How  shall  we  be  rid  of 
these?  Here  is  a  question  within  the  sphere  of  state 
action,  the  protection  of  the  birds  that  they  may  help  in 
the  fight.  For  the  consideration  of  this  phase  of  the 
question,  it  is  desirable  to  invite  the  citizens'  representa- 


i;o  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

live  in  the  state  legislature,  to  come  and  tell  "what  we 
have"  in  state  legislation  on  this  subject,  and  to  hear 
from  the  citizens  "what  we  want." 

Here  is  illustrated  the  great  advantage  of  unity  of 
control  on  the  part  of  the  citizens,  of  the  business  of 
both  state  and  national  character,  which  will  prevent  the 
development  of  that  sphere  of  irresponsibility  which  is  in- 
evitable when  the  citizens  depend  upon  the  courts  or  any 
other  subcommittees  to  have  the  final  "say"  upon  their 
business.  On  August  10,  1911,  Mr.  Roosevelt  said  before 
the  Colorado  Legislature:  "Unfortunately  the  courts, 
instead  of  leading  in  the  recognition  of  the  new  condi- 
tions, have  lagged  behind,  and,  as  each  case  has  presented 
itself,  have  tended  by  a  series  of  negative  decisions  to 
create  a  sphere  in  which  neither  nation  nor  state  has 
effective  control,  and  where  the  great  business  interests, 
that  can  call  to  their  aid  the  ability  of  the  greatest  cor- 
poration lawyers,  escape  all  control  whatever."  This 
whole  matter  of  filling  in  the  gap  between  state  and 
national  spheres  of  action  and  securing  harmony  and 
close  correlation  between  them,  which  comes  into  every 
general  problem,  large  or  small,  and  which  Mr.  Roose- 
velt says  is  not  achieved  by  the  courts,  is  obviously  se- 
cured when  the  citizenship  assumes  control,  for  this  body 
is  made  up  of  those  who  are  at  the  same  time  the 
authority  in  both  national  and  state  spheres. 

This  matter  of  insect  pest  treatment  is  not  finally  set- 
tled, however,  by  either  national  or  state  action,  nor  by 
both.  It  demands  also  direct  local  action.  The  one  con- 
tribution to  the  insect  hosts  of  destruction  of  the  world 
which  America  has  produced  is  the  Colorado  beetle,  fa- 
miliarly known  as  the  potato  bug.  This  native  originated 
on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rockies  about  forty  years 
ago.  Ten  years  since,  he  passed  in  the  egg  the  German 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE   WANT      171 

quarantine  and  appeared  in  Prussia.  At  once  the  chil- 
dren were  enlisted  by  the  offer  of  cash  prizes,  in  gath- 
ering all  that  had  arrived,  and  then  all  the  ground  where 
potato  bug  eggs  or  young  were  supposed  to  be  was 
drenched  with  kerosene  and  set  on  fire,  and  there  are 
no  more  potato  bugs  in  Germany. 

In  Germany  efficiency  is  secured  through  the  power 
to  command  unified  action,  vested  in  a  monarch.  In  this 
country  similar  efficiency  may  be  secured  only  through 
democratically  unified  action,  such  as  is  possible  with 
the  citizenship  organized  in  one  body.  With  the  citizen- 
ship organized  into  one  body,  and  with  the  young  people 
so  organized  as  to  supplement  the  activities  of  the  adult 
citizens,  it  will  be  possible,  not  only  to  secure  the  enact- 
ment of  laws  in  the  public  interest,  but  where,  as  in  the 
handling  of  this  problem,  direct  action  on  the  part  of 
the  citizens  themselves  is  required,  there  is  furnished 
the  means  of.  producing  such  concerted  action  as  would 
eliminate,  within  one  year,  every  insect  pest  in  the 
country  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  mosquito. 

Some  of  the  great  national  questions,  such  as  the  for- 
tification  or  neutralization  of  the  Panama  Canal,  the 
proper  method  of  developing  the  merchant  marine,  the 
public  ownership  of  telegraphs,  telephones,  railroads,  et 
cetera,  the  problem  of  international  social  center  develop- 
ment, that  is,  the  increase  of  the  functions  of  The  Hague 
tribunal,  which  carries  with  it  the  question  of  reduction 
of  armament,  et  cetera,  seem  to  be  wholly  within  the 
national  sphere.  These  and  all  other  questions  will  in- 
evitably come  to  the  consideration  of  the  citizens,  if 
they  begin  to  take  up  consecutively  the  public  problems, 
beginning  in  the  sphere  of  neighborhood  interests,  and 
following  out  to  the  town  or  city,  the  county,  the  state, 
the  nation,  in  the  spirit  of  practical  politics,  in  the  spirit 


172  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

which  calmly  and  broadly,  intelligently  and  fearlessly, 
studies  "What  We  Have,"  to  understand  it,  and  decides 
upon  "What  We  Want,"  to  get  it  done. 

See  what  this  line  may  lead  to. 

At  the  1909  meeting  of  the  National  Municipal  League 
at  Cincinnati,  the  experience  of  Rochester,  New  York, 
in  social  center  development  was  presented.  The  man 
who  reported  the  conference  for  C.  P.  Taft's  Cincinnati 
Times-Star  was  Frank  Parker  Stockbridge.  Becoming 
interested,  Mr.  Stockbridge  went  to  Rochester  to  investi- 
gate this  development.  When  he  came,  he  demonstrated 
again  the  remarkable  power  of  the  social  center  to  discover 
the  human  interest  of  even  a  newspaper  reporter.  This 
had  been  shown  before  when,  in  that  city,  a  seasoned  re- 
porter from  one  of  the  papers  who  was  assigned  to  cover 
a  neighborhood  civic  club  meeting,  became  so  much  in- 
terested in  the  discussion  that  he  forgot  that  he  was  not 
a  human  being  and  a  citizen,  and  participated  in  it. 
When  the  city  editor  heard  of  it,  he  said  that  such  a 
thing  was  impossible;  but  when  he  asked  the  reporter 
about  it,  the  reporter  answered :  "Sure  I  did,  and  if  you 
had  been  there,  you  would  have  forgotten  yourself,  too." 
Mr.  Stockbridge  got  the  story  he  came  for,  but  he  got 
something  more.  He  became  interested  as  a  citizen. 
And,  when  he  returned  to  Cincinnati,  he  found  his  friend, 
Herbert  Bigelow,  interested  in  the  social  center  idea, 
and  together  they  started  to  bring  about  the  coordination 
of  one  community. 

Their  plan  was  to  open  the  public  building  for  the 
public  discussion  of  public  questions,  but  they  quickly 
found  that  the  public  servants  who  controlled  these  pub- 
lic buildings  were  not  the  public's  servants,  and  dis- 
tinctly did  not  want  public  affairs  discussed  publicly. 
The  public  library  board  refused  to  allow  the  use  of  the 


WHAT   WE   HAVE— WHAT   WE   WANT      173 

auditoriums  in  the  branch  libraries  for  public  discus- 
sions, and  the  school  board  likewise  took  a  firm  stand 
against  this  form  of  education. 

Mr.  Stockbridge's  public  advocacy  of  this  obviously 
democratic  right  was  so  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit 
of  the  political  methods  then  dominant  that  Mr.  Stock- 
bridge  was  forced  to  resign  his  position  on  the  Times- 
Star. 

The  "Town  Meeting  Society,"  which  Bigelow  and 
Stockbridge  had  organized  to  promote  the  social  center 
idea,  did  not  abandon  the  field,  but  diverted  its  energies 
into  the  effort  to  bring  about  such  a  change  of  political 
conditions  as  would  make  it  impossible  for  any  future 
pretenders  to  suppress  free  speech  in  Cincinnati.  They 
found  that  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome  were  in  the  very 
constitution  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  which,  by  requiring  all 
cities  to  have  uniform  charters,  made  it  impossible  for 
the  citizens  of  any  municipality  to  accomplish  any  ad- 
ministrative reform  without  the  consent  of  the  represen- 
tatives in  the  legislature  of  enough  other  cities  to  make 
a  majority  of  the  legislature.  The  solution  appeared  to 
them  to  be  the  simple  one  of  revising  the  constitution  of 
Ohio,  and  from  the  "Town  Meeting  Society"  and  its  ef- 
forts to  open  the  public  schools  of  Cincinnati  sprang  the 
movement  for  a  constitutional  convention,  which  was  held 
in  1912,  with  Herbert  Bigelow  as  president,  and  which 
submitted  to  the  voters  of  Ohio,  in  September,  1912,  forty- 
two  amendments  to  the  state  constitution,  the  net  result 
of  which  was  to  give  Ohio  the  broadest  and  most  pro- 
gressive fundamental  law  of  any  of  the  states,  and  to 
give  every  municipality  in  the  state  absolute  self-govern- 
ment in  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  local  affairs  of  its 
citizens. 

Mr.  Stockbridge  entered  the  magazine  field  when  Gov- 


174  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ernor  Wilson's  acquaintances  started  his  boom  for  the 
democratic  nomination  for  the  presidency.  Mr.  Stock- 
bridge  was  selected  as  the  best  man  in  the  country  to 
organize  Governor  Wilson's  preliminary  publicity  cam- 
paign. When  Governor  Wilson  took  his  first  western  trip 
he  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Stockbridge.  Arriving  at 
Minneapolis,  Governor  Wilson  was  met  by  the  writer 
who  invited  him  to  speak  at  the  First  National  Confer- 
ence on  Social  Center  Development,  to  be  held  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Extension  Division  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin.  His  acceptance  of  this  invitation  was  in 
part  due  to  the  fact  that  he  had  learned  of  the  social 
center  plan  and  method  from  Mr.  Stockbridge. 

This  is  not  the  end  of  the  story.  But  it  is  enough  to 
illustrate  the  character  of  this  practical  method  of  ap- 
proach to  the  administration  of  public  business  of  which 
Governor  Wilson  spoke  at  that  national  conference. 

"The  interesting  thing  about  this  movement  is  that  a 
great  many  things  have  occurred  to  people  to  do  in  the 
schoolhouse,  things  social,  things  educational,  things  po- 
litical— for  one  of  the  reasons  why  politics  took  on  a 
new  complexion  in  the  city  in  which  this  movement  origi- 
nated was  that  the  people  who  could  go  into  the  school- 
houses  at  night  knew  what  was  going  on  in  that  city, 
and  insisted  upon  talking  about  it,  and  the  minute  they 
began  talking  about  it  many  things  became  impossible, 
for  there  are  scores  of  things  that  must  be  put  a  stop  to 
in  our  politics  that  will  stop  the  moment  they  are  talked 
of  where  men  will  listen.  The  treatment  of  bad  politics 
,is  exactly  the  modern  treatment  of  tuberculosis — it  is  ex- 
posure to  the  open  air." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

BEGINNINGS  IN   ROCHESTER  AND  ELSEWHERE 

Yes,  I  see  it.  The  foundation  of  this  development  in 
Rochester  is  the  right  of  free  discussion  and  democratic 
control.  I  have  wondered  why,  in  our  city,  although  we 
have  spent  as  much  money  and  effort  in  having  our  schools 
used  as  social  centers  as  you  have,  yet  we  haven't  developed 
the  same  spirit.  The  reason  is  that  men  haven't  made  use 
of  the  schools,  and  men  haven't  made  use  of  the  schools  be- 
cause we  have  superimposed  restrictions  upon  their  discus- 
sion. It  is  strange  to  think  that  in  America,  in  the  most 
essentially  American  of  our  institutions,  we  have  denied  this 
right.  Unquestionably,  the  secret  of  the  success  of  the 
Rochester  movement  is  in  the  fact  that  it  has  not  been  un- 
American. 

Thus  spoke  Superintendent  F.  B.  Dyer,  of  the  Cincin- 
nati public  schools,  when  visiting  the  city  of  Rochester, 
New  York,  in  1909;  and,  in  these  words,  he  noted  the 
fundamental  difference  between  the  spirit  in  which  the 
full  use  of  the  schoolhouses  of  Rochester  was  begun  in 
that  city  in  1907  and  the  spirit  in  which  the  wider  use 
of  these  buildings  had  been  begun  in  New  York  City, 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland,  Milwaukee,  and  other 
towns,  including  his  own  city  of  Cincinnati. 

In  a  word — in  each  of  these  other  cities,  the  school 
board  had  failed  to  distinguish  between  its  relation  to 
the  adult  citizenship  and  its  relation  to  the  children  of 

175 


176  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  citizens,  in  the  administration  of  the  citizens'  prop- 
erty. In  each  of  these  cities  the  members  of  the  school 
board  had  made  the  remarkable  assumption  that  when 
the  citizens  delegated  to  them  authority -over  the  young 
people  in  the  use  of  these  buildings,  the  citizens  at  the 
same  time  delegated  to  the  board  authority  over  them- 
selves, the  citizens,  in  any  use  which  they  might  wish  to 
make  of  their  buildings. 

Clearly,  the  school  board,  being  a  subcommittee  of  the 
citizenship,  while  being  in  authority  over  the  children,  is 
subordinate  to  the  body  of  the  adult  citizenship,  and 
where  the  school  board  fails  to  recognize  this  plain  dis- 
tinction, there  can,  of  course,  be  no  civic  use  of  the  build- 
ings by  normal  adults ;  for  the  essential  character  of  the 
citizenship  is  its  sovereignty,  and,  for  the  school  board 
to  assume  that  it  has  a  right  to  dictate  to  citizens  as  to 
what  they  shall  talk  about  in  these  buildings  is  to  assume 
that,  in  their  use  of  the  buildings,  they  come  into  the 
same  class  with  children.  Obviously,  if  the  movement 
as  developed  in  this  paternal  spirit  had  succeeded  any- 
where it  would  be  an  evidence  of  either  immaturity  or 
decadence  on  the  part  of  the  citizenship,  an  evidence 
that  either  civic  self-respect  had  not  yet  developed,  or 
that  it  had  become  weak. 

The  essential  difference  between  the  spirit  of  the  move- 
ment in  New  York  City,  which  is  typical  of  that  in  each 
of  the  cities  where  the  school  board  had  failed  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  authoritative  position  of  the  citi- 
zenship over  it  and  the  subordinate  position  of  minors 
under  it,  and  the  spirit  of  the  movement  in  Rochester, 
where  the  school  board  showed  itself  capable  of  recog- 
nizing this  distinction  when  it  was  pointed  out  by  its 
president,  George  M.  Forbes,  was  strikingly  shown  when 
Dr.  E.  W.  Stitt,  a  district  superintendent  of  schools  of 


BEGINNINGS   IN    ROCHESTER  177 

New  York,  spoke  at  one  of  the  social  centers  in  Roches- 
ter. He  said :  "You  people  should  be  very  grateful  to 
the  school  board  for  their  goodness  to  you  in  allowing 
you  to  use  these  buildings." 

In  commenting  upon  this  remark,  one  of  the  thought- 
ful citizens  of  Rochester,  who  had  been  present  at  the 
meeting,  said :  "It  seems  to  me  that  the  attitude  which 
Dr.  Stitt  expressed,  which  no  doubt  reflects  the  attitude 
of  the  school  board  in  New  York  City,  has  a  vital  bear- 
ing upon  the  question  which  they  are  discussing  there, 
as  to  whether  they  should  have  a  paid  or  an  unpaid  school 
board.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  subordinate  under  the 
school  board,  nor  the  school  board  itself,  could  assume 
such  an  utterly  ridiculous  attitude  toward  the  citizens' 
use  of  these  buildings,  if  its  members  were  paid  for  their 
service." 

Undoubtedly,  the  fact  that  the  school  board  in  theo 
average  city  has  been  either  an  adjunct  of  the  corrupt 
machine,  as  it  was  in  Rochester  before  the  change  was 
made  which  brought  such  men  as  Professor  Forbes  to 
membership  in  it;  or  that  it  has  been  amenable  to 
such  influences  as  that  of  the  school  book  trust;  or,  at 
the  best,  has  been  made  up  of  a  group  of  prominent  citi- 
zens, wealthy  enough  to  be  able  to  donate  their  time, 
whose  impelling  motive  was  one  of  benevolence,  has  had 
something  to  do  with  the  failure  of  these  men  and  their 
subordinates  to  recognize  that  they  have  no  authority  over 
the  body  of  the  adult  citizenship,  in  so  far  as  their  use  of 
the  buildings  does  not  interfere  with  the  children's  activi- 
ties. Whether  paying  the  members  of  the  school  board  in 
New  York  and  other  towns  would  cause  them  to  recog- 
nize this  primary  distinction,  and  would  help  them  to 
appreciate  that  as  a  subcommittee  they  are  under,  not 
over,  the  adult  citizenship,  or  not,  the  point  to  be  noted 


178  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

here  is  that  this  mistaken  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
school  board  is,  as  Superintendent  Dyer  noted,  the  es- 
sential reason  why,  with  the  expenditure  of  as  much,  and 
in  the  case  of  New  York,  of  many  times  as  much,  money 
as  was  spent  in  Rochester,  the  movement  has  never  "de- 
veloped the  same  spirit,"  nor  indeed  any  spirit  of  democ- 
racy whatever. 

Three  years  ago,  the  "1915  Movement"  was  still  alive 
in  Boston;  and,  by  the  way,  if  there  was  ever  a  sincere 
effort  on  the  part  of  a  private,  volunteer  organization  of 
uplifters  and  reformers  to  do  the  work  that  belongs  to 
the  citizenship,  it  was  this  movement.  It  had  as  yet 
shown  few  signs  of  its  inevitable  flattening  out,  and  one 
of  the  projects  in  which  its  promoters  became  interested 
was  the  wider  use  of  the  schoolhouses.  It  was  recog- 
nized that  there  was  an  essential  difference  between  the 
method  and  spirit  of  the  development  in  New  York  and 
that  in  Rochester,  and  it  was  decided  to  have  both 
methods  presented.  It  was,  therefore,  arranged  to 
have  Gustave  Straubenmuller,  associate  city  superin- 
tendent of  schools  in  New  York,  and  a  member  of 
the  Rochester  social  center  staff,  speak  at  the  same 
meeting. 

Mr.  Straubenmuller  said :  "We,  in  New  York,  recog- 
nize the  great  fact  that  Caesar  discovered,  that,  if  we  are 
to  keep  the  people  contented  and  in  order,  we  must 
amuse  them,  just  as  the  Roman  emperors  found  that  they 
could  keep  the  people  contented  by  providing  them  cir- 
cuses." Mr.  Straubenmuller  did  not  mention  any  plan  of 
providing  free  bread  along  with  the  circuses,  but  of 
course  they  went  together  in  Rome. 

In  other  words,  the  movement  as  promoted  in  New 
York  City  had  proceeded  (and,  of  course,  no  criticism  is 
here  meant  of  the  work  of  either  Dr.  Stitt  or  Mr.  Strau- 


BEGINNINGS   IN    ROCHESTER  179 

benmiiller,  and  least  of  all,  of  Dr.  Leipziger,  but  merely 
an  explanation  of  the  paternal  spirit  of  this  development, 
as  contrasted  with  that  which  gave  life  and  significance 
to  the  movement  in  Rochester)  upon  the  assumption  that 
the  American  citizenship  is  of  the  character  of  the  Roman 
populace  in  the  weak  and  rotten  days  of  the  empire,  and 
that  the  public  servants,  the  school-board  members,  and 
others,  are  in  the  position  of  the  corrupt  and  bountiful 
emperors. 

At  the  same  meeting  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  devel- 
opment in  Rochester  was  based  upon  the  assumption  that 
the  citizenship  in  America  is  comparable,  not  to  the 
Roman  populace  in  the  decadent  days  of  the  empire, 
but  to  the  Roman  citizenship  in  the  great  days  of 
the  republic,  and  that  the  social  center  is  not  analogous 
to  the  circuses  used  by  the  emperors  to  control  the  people, 
but  to  the  comitium  in  the  Forum  used  by  the  Roman 
citizens  to  control  their  servants. 

It  was  apparently  decided  that  the  citizens  of  Boston 
were  of  the  type  of  the  Roman  populace  in  the  decadent 
days  of  the  empire,  for  the  movement  was  begun  there 
in  the  paternalistic  "uplift"  spirit,  and  thus  far  has  devel- 
oped little  strength. 

The  inauguration  of  the  social  center  movement  in 
Rochester  had  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  social 
center  itself:  It  came  about  through  the  focusing  of 
many  interests  in  the  city  to  a  single  point. 

On  February  15,  1907,  delegates  from  the  Central 
Trades  and  Labor  Council,  the  Playground  League,  the 
College  Woman's  Club,  the  Daughters  of  the  American 
Revolution,  the  Humane  Society,  the  Labor  Lyceum,  the 
Local  Council  of  Women,  the  Officers'  Association  of 
Mothers'  Clubs,  the  Political  Equality  Club,  the  Social 
Settlement  Association  and  the  Women's  Educational 


180  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

and  Industrial  Union,  altogether  representing  about 
50,000  people,  or  a  half  of  the  adult  population  of  the 
city,  met  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  formulated 
the  request  that  the  mayor  and  common  council  put  an 
item  of  $5,000  in  the  tax  levy  for  social  center  develop- 
ment, and  that  the  board  of  education  administer  the 
fund. 

It  happened  that  James  G.  Cutler  was  mayor  at  the 
time.  At  the  end  of  his  term,  he  was  refused  renomina- 
tion  by  the  "machine"  and  "boss"  of  Rochester.  Mr. 
Cutler  favored  the  project.  The  money  was  appropri- 
ated and  turned  over  to  the  school  board.  This  money 
was  to  cover  the  cost  of  equipment  and  supervision  of 
school  yard  playgrounds,  that  is,  children's  out-of-door 
social  center  activities,  as  well  as  the  indoor  activities, 
and  the  school  board  made  its  selection  of  a  civic  secre- 
tary, or  supervisor  of  the  wider  use  of  this  public  prop- 
erty with  a  view  of  his  experience  and  qualifications  for 
the  practical  organization  of  work  indoors  and  out,  as 
well  as  his  understanding  of  the  possibilities  of  this  de- 
velopment. 

By  way  of  preparation  for  the  work  the  Chicago  Field 
House  duplication  method,  and  the  system  of  municipal 
paternalism  in  the  New  York  recreation  centers  were 
visited  and  thoroughly  studied.  The  organization  and 
supervision  of  the  out-of-door  recreational  activities  dur- 
ing the  summer  gave  excellent  opportunity  to  become 
familiar  with  the  situation,  and  to  select  competent  direc- 
tors for  young  people's  clubs,  for  musical  organizations, 
gymnasiums,  reading  rooms,  and  so  on.  By  autumn  the 
plans  were  formulated.  It  was  decided  that  the  begin- 
ning should  be  made  in  No.  14  school  building,  which 
was  selected  because  it  was  very  near  the  middle  of  the 
city,  and  so,  well  located  to  prevent  the  movement  at 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  181 

its  start  from  being  stamped  as  one  especially  for  either 
poor  or  rich. 

On  Friday  evening,  November  1st,  a  general  neigh- 
borhood gathering  was  held.  At  this  meeting  President 
Forbes  spoke  upon  the  two  possible  forms  of  govern- 
ment, the  paternal  and  the  fraternal,  the  one  in  which 
the  people  are  managed,  the  other  in  which  the  citizens 
unite  upon  a  common  ground  to  administer  their  own 
affairs.  He  set  forth  very  definitely  the  basic,  fraternal, 
cooperative  idea  of  the  social  center  as  an  institution 
by  which  the  community  might  serve  itself.  After  some 
music  by  the  neighborhood  orchestra,  which  had  been 
organized  by  the  preliminary  work  of  one  of  the  social 
center  staff,  who  had  been  employed  during  the  summer 
in  recreation  leadership,  and  an  explanation  by  the  neigh- 
borhood civic  secretary  that  he  was  there,  not  to  direct 
nor  to  teach,  but  to  take  orders  as  a  community  hired 
man,  there  was  a  free  hour  for  social  intercourse  and 
acquaintance. 

The  next  Thursday  evening  twelve  men  gathered  in 
the  building.  They  had  been  seen  individually  by  the 
neighborhood  secretary,  who  had  explained  the  idea  of 
citizenship  deliberative  organization.  To  be  sure,  a  gen- 
eral announcement  had  been  made  of  the  meeting,  but, 
in  view  of  the  character  of  "politics"  in  Rochester,  the 
idea  of  a  serious  political  organization  using  the  school- 
house  as  headquarters  was  too  simple  and  sensible  to 
be  grasped  at  once,  so  that  only  these  twelve  came.  As 
Governor  Wilson  said,  speaking  upon  this  matter:  "It 
does  not  make  any  difference  how  many  or  how  few 
come  in,  provided  anybody  who  chooses  may  come 
in." 

In  the  preamble  of  its  constitution  this  organization 

recognized  its  unifying  center  of  responsibility  in   the 
13 


182  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ballot-box :  "Whereas,  the  welfare  of  society  demands 
that  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  exercise  the  franchise  be 
well  informed  upon  the  economic,  industrial,  and  politi- 
cal questions  of  the  day;  therefore,  we  form  a  society 
to  hold  in  the  public  school  building  meetings,  whose 
object  shall  be  the  gaining  of  information  upon  public 
questions  by  listening  to  public  speakers  and  by  public 
readings  and  discussions."  The  membership  of  the  club 
was  recognized  as  the  voting  body  of  the  district. 
Among  the  officers  chosen  was  a  well-to-do  physician, 
who  was  a  conservative  Republican  elder  in  a  Presby- 
terian church;  a  Jewish  tailor,  who  "was  a  socialist; 
a  union  printer,  and  a  director  in  several  banks  in  the 
city. 

^^  At  the  second  meeting  the  topic  was  "The  Duties  of 
an  Alderman,"  the  speaker  being  the  local  member  of 
the  aldermanic  council.  At  this  meeting  there  were  some 
fifty-seven  present.  Here  began  the  demonstration  of 
the  welcome  on  the  part  of  officials  to  the  opportunity 
which  citizenship  organization  gives,  and  the  demon- 
stration of  the  purely  imaginary  character  of  the 
danger  from  freedom  of  discussion  in  neighborhood 
gatherings.  At  the  next  meeting  the  new  charter  was 
presented  by  the  man  who  had  been  most  active  in  its 
preparation;  there  followed  the  discussion  of  the  school 
service,  then  the  telephone  situation,  and  so  on,  the 
attendance  soon  rising  to  the  point  where  it  was  neces- 
sary to  move  from  the  class-room,  which  was  used  at 
first,  to  the  large  room  on  the  ground  floor  which  serves 
during  the  day  for  the  kindergarten. 

v  Within  a  month  after  this  first  organization  was 
formed,  a  request  came  to  the  school  board  from  the 
citizens  of  a  neighborhood  in  a  distant  part  of  the  city 
to  have  the  school  building  in  their  district  opened  for 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  183 

use  as  a  civic  council  place,  and  to  have  the  services  of 
a  neighborhood  civic  secretary.  This  was  in  the  Tenth 
Ward,  one  of  the  finest  "residential"  sections  of  the  city. 
A  month  later  came  a  similar  request  from  another  part 
of  the  city ;  so  that,  by  the  end  of  the  first  season,  there 
were  three  buildings  in  use  as  neighborhood  political 
discussion  headquarters. 

During  this  first  year,  after  the  value  of  free  and  frank 
discussion  of  political  and  economic  questions  had  been 
demonstrated,  the  right  of  the  citizens  to  use  the  school 
buildings  was  questioned  in  a  rather  interesting  way. 
The  people  of  Waterloo,  New  York,  invited  Governor 
Hughes  to  address  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  their  high 
school  building,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Republican 
party  organization,  and  to  explain  the  direct  primary 
proposition,  for  which  he  was  then  contending.  They 
received  a  notice  from  Dr.  Draper,  state  superintendent 
of  education,  that  this  could  not  be  permitted. 

In  order  to  clarify  the  distinction  between  political 
discussion  under  the  auspices  of  the  single  all-inclusive 
political  organization  of  the  citizenship  and  political  dis- 
cussion under  partisan  auspices,  as  proposed  in  Water- 
loo, this  decision  of  the  state  superintendent  was  made 
the  occasion  for  holding  a  large  civic  club  banquet  at 
No.  14  Center  (the  method  of  arranging  for  these  occa- 
sional banquets  was  a  "chip  in"  collection  of  the  men's 
body,  the  money  being  turned  over  to  the  women  who 
arranged  the  service,  which  was  participated  in  by  all), 
at  which  the  use  of  schoolhouses  as  political  head- 
quarters was  discussed.  The  unanimous  thought  of  the 
evening,  in  which  both  the  mayor  and  the  corporation 
council  of  the  city  concurred,  was  expressed  by  Howard 
T.  Mosher,  chairman  of  the  Democratic  County  Com- 
mittee, in  these  words:  "The  schoolhouses  are  the  real 


184  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

places  for  political  meetings.  Why  should  I  be  com- 
pelled to  go  into  a  barroom  to  address  a  political  meet- 
ing, where  the  bartender  is  using  me  to  advertise  his 
beer?  Why  should  I  be  compelled  to  go  into  smoke- 
filled  rooms  to  talk  on  political  issues,  when  we  have 
buildings  like  this  where  these  things  can  be  taken 
up?" 

C  Throughout  the  season  there  were  seventy-two  meet- 
ings in  which  citizens  gathered  to  discuss  political  and 
economic  topics,  there  being  no  single  instance  of  dis- 
courtesy, as  there  was  the  utmost  freedom  of  discus- 
sion, with  nothing  to  interfere  with  the  workings  of 
the  law  of  liberty,  the  restraint  of  common  sense.  In 
each  of  the  newly  formed  neighborhood  organizations, 
the  need  of  the  community  for  associational  and  recrea- 
tional provision  for  the  young  people  was  discussed,  and 
the  desire  to  have  the  social  centers  completely  developed 
was  expressed.  However,  there  was  not  a  sufficient  ap- 
propriation to  make  more  than  the  citizens'  use  im- 
jnediately  possible. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  men  of  the  various 
neighborhood  organizations  gathered  at  No.  14  Center 
for  a  dinner  and  social  evening.  In  Buffalo,  Kansas 
City,  and  several  other  towns,  the  effort  had  been  made 
to  begin  the  use  of  school  buildings  for  civic  discussion, 
and  had  been  opposed  for  one  reason  or  another.  The 
fundamental  importance  of  this  right  of  free  examina- 
tion of  public  questions,  the  fact  that  this  use  of  school 
buildings  was  being  prohibited  in  other  cities,  and  the 
fact  that  the  successful  development  in  Rochester  was 
bringing  many  visitors  to  that  city,  suggested  the  fol- 
lowing song,  which  was  sung  at  this  first  anniversary 
gathering.  It  went  to  the  air,  "When  Johnny  Comes 
Marching  Home." 


BEGINNINGS   IN    ROCHESTER  185 


Twas  not  so  very  long  ago, 
Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

The  pioneers  have  told  us  so, 
Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

Twelve  good  men  came  to  the  Center, 

And  said:     "If  we  are  going  to  enter, 
We'll   talk   about  the   things 
We  want  to  talk  about, 
Yes,  we'll  talk  about  the  things 
That  ought   to   be  talked  about." 

II 

And  so  these  men  did  organize, 
Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

And  other  clubs  began  to  rise, 
Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

And  all  the  time  we  did  not  know 

What  it  was  that  made  us  grow, 
'Twas  talk-ing  about  the  things 
We   wanted   to   talk    about, 
Yes,  'twas  talk-ing  about  the  things 
'That  ought  to  be  talked  about. 

Ill 

And  now  of  other  towns  they  say — 
Hurrah !     Hurrah  ! 

And  we  are  hearing  it  every  day, 
Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

That  of  the  things  that  can't  be  done 

In  the  schoolhouse — this  is  one: 
To  talk  about  the  things 
Folks  want  to  talk  about, 
Yes — to  talk  about  the  things 
That  ought  to  be  talked  about. 


186  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

IV 

And  now  they're  coming  from  Buffalo, 
Hurrah !     Hurrafi ! 

A  place  where  we're  considered  slow, 
Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

To  learn  of  the  Social  Center  plan, 

And  how  we  make  it  that  every  man 
Can  talk  about  the  things 
He  wants  to  talk  about, 
Yes,  can  talk  about  the  things 
That  ought  to  be  talked  about. 

During  the  first  season,  while  three  schoolhouses  were 
used  as  neighborhood  club  houses  one  evening  each 
week  for  civic  discussion,  only  one,  No.  14,  the  first  to 
be  opened,  was  used  each  evening,  the  time  being  divided 
so  as  to  give  three  evenings  each  week  for  men  and  boys, 
two  for  women  and  girls,  and  one,  the  "general  even- 
ing," for  everybody  together. 

At  the  time  of  making  up  the  budget  for  the  second 
year,  the  Neighborhood  Civic  Club  of  No.  14  passed  the 
following  resolutions,  and,  with  the  signatures  of  the 
seventy-five  men  who  were  present  at  the  meeting,  sent 
them  to  the  mayor  and  aldermanic  council,  endorsing 
the  school  board's  recommendation  that  the  appropria- 
tion be  doubled  the  second  year. 

Knowing  that  the  question  of  extending  the  social  center 
work  of  the  public  schools  is  now  before  you,  and  believ- 
ing that  the  judgment  of  the  men  who  have  frequented  the 
Social  Center  at  No.  14  school  may  be  of  value  in  this 
matter,  we,  the  undersigned  voters,  residing  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  No.  14  school,  and  members  of  the  Men's  Civic 
Club  of  the  Social  Center,  declare  that,  in  our  judgment, 
the  opening  of  the  public  schools  in  the  evening  for  recrea- 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  187 

tion,  reading  and  club  meetings,  so  far  as  it  has  been  tried 
at  No.  14  school,  is  an  unqualified  success. 

Not  only  does  it  give  opportunity  for  wholesome  athletic 
exercise,  literary  culture,  and  training  in  good  citizenship 
to  the  older  boys  and  girls  and  young  men  and  women  of 
the  community  and  in  its  free  lectures  afford  opportunities 
for  entertainment  and  instruction  to  all  the  people,  but  espe- 
cially in. its  clubs  for  men  and  women  it  is  of  great  value 
as  a  place  for  the  discussion  and  understanding  of  civic  ques- 
tions and  the  development  of  a  good  community  spirit. 

In  our  opinion  there  could  be  no  more  wise  and  economical 
investment  of  the  city's  money  than  in  the  extension  of  the 
social  center  movement,  and  we  do  most  heartily  indorse  the 
recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  this  matter. 

The  appropriation  made  for  the  second  year  was 
$10,000,  which  made  possible,  in  addition  to  the  installa- 
tion of  new  equipment  and  the  opening  of  more  recrea- 
tion fields  out-of-doors,  the  full  equipment  and  opening 
for  young  people's  use,  as  well  as  for  adults,  of  three  cen- 
ters. These  were  opened  for  use,  not  only  each  evening, 
but  also  on  Sunday  afternoon,  at  the  request  of  the 
Ministers'  Association,  whose  members  recognized  the 
advantage  of  having  a  wholesome  place  for  young  men 
and  young  women  on  that  afternoon  which  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  give  over  to  the  direction  of  the 
employer  of  the  idle. 

During  this  second  season  sixteen  schoolhouses  came 
to  be  used  as  neighborhood  club  houses  for  adult  citi- 
zens, and  in  this  season  was  formed  the  city-wide  Fed- 
eration or  League  of  Civic  Clubs.  The  purpose  and 
character  of  this  organization  may  be  shown  by  giving 
the  preamble  to  its  constitution : 

The  steady  growth  of  the  civic  club  movement  from  its 
beginning  in  November,  1907,  when  there  was  one  club  with 


1 88  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

twelve  (active)  members,  to  the  present,  when  there  are  six- 
teen clubs,  with  fifteen  hundred  (active)  members,  seems  to 
justify  the  belief  that  there  is  a  permanent,  real  need  of  non- 
partisan  organization  of  adult  citizens,  meeting  in  the  public 
school  buildings,  for  the  purpose  of  developing  intelligent 
public  spirit  by  the  open  presentation  and  free  discussion 
of  matters  of  common  interest,  and  that  the  civic  clubs  meet 
that  need. 

To  increase  the  effectiveness  of  the  civic  clubs  and  to 
further  their  purpose,  especially  in  such  matters  as  the  se- 
curing and  entertaining  of  distinguished  visitors  to  the  city; 
in  giving  unity  to  the  expression  of  the  people's  will  in  the 
matter  of  desired  legislation,  and  in  guiding  the  further  ex- 
tension of  the  civic  club  movement  with  a  view  to  the  wel- 
fare of  the  city  as  a  whole,  it  is  desirable  to  form  a  central 
league  or  federation  of  these  civic  clubs. 

We,  the  chosen  representatives  and  delegates  of  the  sev- 
eral civic  clubs  of  the  City  of  Rochester,  do  hereby  form 
such  a  league  or  federation. 

At  this  point  a  serious  mistake  was  made,  a  policy 
was  adopted  which  was  inconsistent  with  the  social  cen- 
ter idea.  The  mayor  was  not  made  the  president  of  this 
organization,  as  he  should  have  been.  The  fact  was, 
that  Mayor  Cutler  had  been  supplanted  by  another, 
whom  the  "organization"  had  carefully  selected  for  this 
office  as  a  more  dependable  and  docile  servant  than  Mr. 
Cutler  had  proved.  This  official,  of  course,  though  thus 
put  into  office,  would  really  have  been  glad  to  be  the 
people's  mayor  instead  of  the  "boss's  rubber  stamp," 
and  he  should  have  been  chosen  president  of  the  League 
of  Civic  Clubs,  but  these  organizations  had  not  been 
meeting  long  enough  completely  to  relieve  the  citizens 
of  the  old  "bad  man"  superstition  regarding  public  offi- 
cials, and  Hon.  John  B.  M.  Stevens,  judge  of  the  county 
court,  was  chosen  president. 


BEGINNINGS    IN   ROCHESTER  189 

Judge  Stevens  proved  a  splendid  president,  but  it  was 
unfortunate  that  the  mayor  was  not  chosen  ex  officio, 
for  there  is  no  doubt  that  if  he  had  been  he  would  have 
transferred  his  allegiance  from  the  person,  who  was  con- 
trolling the  city,  to  the  citizenship,  just  as  did  minor 
officers  in  the  city.  There  was  no  reason  whatever  for 
treating  with  the  "manager"  of  Rochester,  because  he 
was  merely  a  private  citizen  who  volunteered  to  control 
the  town.  Neither  was  there  any  reason  for  fighting 
him.  He  should  have  been  regarded  as  any  other  citi- 
zen, and  it  should  have  been  assumed  that  the  mayor 
was  the  presiding  officer.  The  mistake  was  made,  how- 
ever, and  henceforth,  not  only  was  the  "boss"  bitterly 
hostile  to  the  social  center  idea  of  the  citizens  assuming 
their  responsibility,  which  he  had  carried  until  he  had 
begun  to  think  that  it  belonged  to  him,  but  the  mayor 
was  lined  up  on  the  side  of  the  private  interferer  with 
the  public  business,  when,  of  course,  he  would  have  been 
much  happier  on  the  side  of  the  organized  citizenship. 

During  the  second  season  the  interest  continued  to 
grow,  and  the  habit  of  practical  accomplishment  began 
to  develop  through  the  securing  not  only  of  additions  to 
the  equipment  of  the  social  centers  in  various  parts  of 
the  city,  the  opening  of  playgrounds,  et  cetera,  but  in 
bringing  about  various  improvements  in  street  paving, 
in  the  installation  of  convenience  stations,  and  so  on,  in 
the  town. 

At  the  close  of  the  second  season,  it  was  decided  to 
have  a  League  of  Civic  Clubs'  banquet,  and  to  invite 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  Charles  E.  Hughes,  who 
was  then  Governor  of  New  York,  to  be  the  guest  of  the 
organized  citizenship  and  to  address  the  league.  An 
agent  visited  the  governor,  and  received  the  response 


190  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 


VJ 

i 


that  on  account  of  the  pressure  of  other  duties  he  would 
not  accept  the  invitation.  Thereupon  the  various  clubs 
decided  that  he  evidently  did  not  appreciate  the  charac- 
er  of  the  organization,  and  an  invitation  was  drafted, 
and  signed  by  twelve  hundred  and  seventy  active  mem- 
bers of  the  adult  clubs,  and  sent  on  to  the  governor. 

When  he  arrived,  Governor  Hughes  was  taken  about 
the  city  to  visit  the  various  fully  equipped  and  fully 
used  centers,  and  then  brought  to  the  building  where 
the  movement  had  started,  for  the  dinner  at  night.  He 
said  in  explanation  of  this  recall  of  his  decision :  "When 
the  delegation  visited  me  with  the  invitation  signed  by 
some  twelve  hundred  seventy  people  interested  in  this 
work,  I  experienced  a  thrill  which  it  is  the  highest  hap- 
piness of  a  man  to  enjoy,  that  twelve  hundred  seventy 
people  in  Rochester,  unselfishly  interested  in  such  great 
work,  should  take  such  trouble  to  induce  my  coming 
here  to  speak  to  them;  and  that  presented  it  in  a  light 
which  made  refusal  absolutely  impossible.  *  *  *  I  think 
that  I  can  say  that  it  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  ever 
taken  back  what  I  have  said  since  I  became  governor." 

It  was  at  this  dinner  that  the  governor  said  of  social 
center  development:  "I  am  more  interested  in  what 
you  are  doing  and  what  it  stands  for  than  in  anything 
else  in  the  world.  You  are  buttressing  the  foundations 
of  democracy." 

Later  at  the  city  Convention  Hall,  where  the  governor 
addressed  a  general  League  of  Civic  Clubs,  that  is,  an 
organized  citizens'  meeting,  he  said : 

I  thought  that  I  held  Rochester  in  just  regard.  I  had 
an  appreciation  of  its  enterprise,  its  commercial  expansion, 
and  of  the  thrift  and  intelligence  of  its  citizens,  but  there 
are  resources  of  communities  which  are  not  reflected  in  sta- 
tistics of  commerce  or  industry,  which  cannot  be  expressed 


BEGINNINGS   IN    ROCHESTER  191 

in  amounts  of  money  representing  invested  or  stored  wealth. 
I  have  had  the  great  privilege  of  becoming  acquainted  to-day 
with  the  real  resources  of  Rochester's  strength,  and  I  would 
not  have  missed  that  opportunity.  It  is  not  in  the  growth 
of  wealth  or  of  commerce,  or  in  the  expansion  of  industry 
that  we  find  the  true  index  of  civilization.  The  question  is 
whether,  with  increasing  opportunity,  there  still  remains  the 
generous  sentiment;  whether  with  growing  wealth  and  new 
establishments  of  industry  and  commerce  there  still  remain 
the  instincts  of  human  brotherhood.  The  question  really  is : 
While  we  are  conserving  individual  opportunities  are  we 
growing  more  solicitous  of  the  common  good? 

You  in  Rochester  are  meeting  one  of  the  great  tests  of 
our  democratic  life;  you  are  proving  that  the  virtues  of 
humanity  far  exceed  in  force  the  vices  of  humanity;  you 
are  showing  that  it  is  health  that  is  really  contagious,  and 
that  in  a  prosperous  community  the  most  intelligent  of  the 
citizens  of  the  community  turn  their  attention  to  the  thought 
of  mutual  improvement  and  of  enlarging  the  area  of  the 
real  opportunities  of  life,  not  in  mere  money-getting,  but 
in  enriching  the  character,  giving  chance  for  expression  of 
individuality,  bringing  home  the  information  and  the  stores 
of  knowledge  that  are  otherwise  inaccessible  to  many  who 
are  burdened  with  the  toils  of  the  day.  It  is  in  the  social 
centers  of  Rochester  that  I  should  look  for  an  answer  to 
the  question,  whether  in  a  great  democratic  community  you 
were  realizing  the  purposes  of  society. 

I  have  enjoyed  seeing  the  splendid  provision  that  is 
made  through  this  movement  for  the  promotion  of  physical 
well-being.  How  little  we  realize  that  character  must  have 
its  basis  in  self-respect — and  it  takes  a  good  deal  of  a  saint 
to  have  self-respect  when  one  is  not  well  and  vigorous.  I 
rejoice  that  boys  and 'girls,  and  men  and  women,  are  having 
a  chance  to  lead  a  normal  life,  and  to  have  the  physical 
basis  upon  which  everything  else  in  life  so  largely  depends. 

And  then  you  have  gone  beyond  that,  to  give  opportunity 
for  intellectual  development.  Wherever  we  may  be  born, 


192  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

in  stately  mansion,  or  in  flat,  or  tenement,  or  under  the 
humblest  conditions,  we  are  pretty  much  alike,  and  it  would 
be  a  rash  man  who  would  try  to  measure  brains  by  the  cost 
of  the  nursery.  Go  anywhere  you  will,  there  is  a  human 
soul  demanding  a  fair  chance,  having  the  right  to  know 
what  has  happened  in  the  world,  having  the  right  to  be  en- 
riched with  the  stories  and  poetry  of  life,  having  the  right 
to  be  inspired  by  the  deeds  of  men  of  force  who  have  lived 
amid  struggles  in  the  past,  having  the  right  to  be  shown 
the  way  upward  to  that  wholesome  life  which  is  absolutely 
independent  of  circumstances  and  which  is  strong  and  suc- 
cessful because  it  is  the  life  of  a  man  or  a  woman  doing  a 
man's  part  and  a  woman's  part  in  a  world  which  is  fairly 
understood. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  the  use  that  is  made  of  the  fine 
public  buildings  that  have  been  erected  for  educational  pur- 
poses. I  do  not  think  that  I  have  seen  any  buildings — of 
course,  I  except  the  Capitol  at  Albany — I  do  not  think  I 
have  seen  any  public  buildings  so  overworked,  or  so  fully 
worked,  yielding  such  rich  dividends  upon  the  public  in- 
vestment through  the  promotion  of  the  public  good,  as  those 
school  buildings  that  I  visited  to-day.  We  used  to  pass  these 
stately  edifices  of  education,  after  school  hours,  and  find 
them  closed  and  dark,  and  interesting  only  because  of  the 
architectural  beauty  or  curiosity  of  their  faqade.  Now  I 
don't  know  when  they  get  time  to  clean  the  public  school 
buildings  of  Rochester.  It  seems  to  me  that  they  are  being 
used  all  the  while,  and  it  is  a  school  extension  proposition, 
so  that  what  the  community  has  paid  for  is  now  enriching 
the  community  in  larger  ways  than  were  at  first  thought  pos- 
sible, although  in  ways,  under  wise  guidance,  which  I  un- 
derstand are  entirely  compatible  with  the  uses  for  which 
they  were  primarily  intended. 

But  you  have  not  stopped  there,  and  I  am  glad  of  that. 
You  are  organized  in  civic  clubs,  and  you  have  federated 
these  clubs,  and  you  are  discussing  public  questions.  We 
cannot  have  too  much  of  that.  I  believe,  absolutely,  in  the 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  193 

success  of  the  merits  of  a  proposition.  The  one  thing  we 
cannot  afford  to  do  without  in  this  country  is  public  dis- 
cussion. There  may  be  those  who  shrink  from  a  free  exam- 
ination of  public  questions.  You  cannot  hold  the  American 
public  in  leash,  you  cannot  muzzle  American  men  and 
women.  The  only  question  is,  whether  you  will  have  it  out 
in  a  time  of  turmoil  and  excitement  and  agitation,  when  the 
coolest  minds  become  somewhat  heated,  and  when  there  is 
the  strife  of  a  controversy  and  the  anxiety  to  win,  or  whether 
you  will  have  calm  discussion,  with  the  sole  desire  to  get 
at  the  truth,  in  time  of  quiet  and  when  reason  and  not  pas- 
sion control  the  dispute.  It  is  of  the  first  importance  in 
every  American  community  that  there  should  be  the  largest 
possible  opportunity  for  the  rational  discussion  of  all  ques- 
tions that  concern  the  community.  Therefore,  it  is  that  you 
have  done  a  great  service  to  Rochester  in  organizing  these 
forums  of  public  opinion. 

I  do  not  overlook  the  advantage  of  the  press  and  its  great 
power  in  forming  public  opinion.  We  would  not  be  able  to 
run  the  government  or  to  exist  as  a  society  without  the  play 
of  these  forces  so  largely  represented  by  our  newspapers,  but 
there  is  such  a  conflict  of  voices  and  so  many  interests  in- 
volved, and  so  many  points  of  view,  and  so  many  things  to 
be  read  between  the  lines,  that  the  average  man  cannot 
always  determine  what  he  shall  think  by  what  he  may  read. 
The  influence  plays  upon  him,  and,  whether  he  recognizes 
it  or  not,  his  opinions  are  largely  shaped  by  what  he  reads, 
but  it  is  such  a  delight  to  sit  down  with  a  few  for  a  quiet 
and  calm  exchange  of  opinions,  to  get  at  the  respective  points 
of  view  and  see,  once  in  a  while,  where  the  truth  really  lies. 
And  so  you  are  at  work  in  your  clubs,  discussing,  getting 
at  the  facts  to  the  best  of  your  ability,  and  applying  to  those 
facts  the  principles  in  which  you  believe,  under  the  corrective 
influence  of  the  arguments  of  others  who  are  seeking  to 
apply  different  principles.  We  have  nothing  to  fear  in  this 
country  if  we  can  only  have  enough  of  that  sort  of  thing. 
The  danger  is  in  having  too  little  of  it. 


194  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

It  was  this  address  of  Governor  Hughes  which  fully 
roused  the  bitter  antagonism  of  the  private  interests 
which  had  hitherto  controlled  the  actions  of  the  people's 
servants  in  Rochester,  or  at  least  of  those  which  loved 
darkness  rather  than  light. 

It  should  be  remembered  that,  as  Henry  Oyen  says  in 
his  series  entitled  'The  Awakening  of  the  Cities,"  * 
speaking  of  the  condition  at  the  time  of  the  beginning  of 
the  social  center  movement  in  1907:  "It  was  shortly 
before  this  that  Rochester  had  been  described  with  much 
truth  as  'one  of  the  most  sodden  cities  in  the  country.'  " 
It  should  also  be  remembered  that,  while  the  school  board 
had  been  wrested  from  the  control  of  the  "boss,"  as 
to  its  personnel,  yet  it  was  not  independent  in  the  levy 
of  its  funds,  and  could  do  no  more  than  recommend  ap- 
propriation for  social  center  expenses  by  the  City  Hall, 
that  outfit  which  Dr.  William  R.  Taylor  characterized  as 
a  "nest  of  unclean  birds." 

Of  course,  as  was  to  be  expected,  there  was  a  certain 
type  of  big  business  men  in  Rochester,  as  there  is  in 
every  city,  that  thoroughly  disliked  the  open  examination 
of  the  industrial  conditions  of  the  town.  There  were 
men  who  were  benefiting  by  franchises,  water  power, 
gas,  street  railway,  who  disliked  the  frank  consideration 
of  the  service  they  were  rendering  the  citizens.  There 
were  tenement  house  owners  who  disliked  the  public 
comparison  of  the  housing  conditions  in  Rochester  with 
those  of  other  cities.  There  were  department  store  own- 
ers who  objected  to  the  discussion  of  their  treatment  of 
the  Rochester  citizens  whom  they  employed. 

Then,  too,  there  was  a  certain  sort  of  church  leader 
who  failed  entirely  to  recognize  that  the  assembling  of 

*  The  World's  Work,  June,  1911,  p.  14497. 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  195 

citizens  for  deliberation  is  of  the  same  character  as  the 
assembling  of  citizens  to  vote,  and  so  is  outside  of  the 
legitimate  province  of  the  sectarian  leader  to  control, 
except  that  the  clergyman  has  the  same  right  to  par- 
ticipate as  other  citizens.  To  be  sure  the  majority  of 
the  ministers  recognized  this  and  took  the  stand  ex- 
pressed in  the  words  of  the  Reverend  R.  M.  West :  "In 
order  to  adjust  ourselves,  our  laws  and  society  to  the 
changes,  philosophical,  political,  industrial  and  economic, 
which  have  taken  place  within  the  past  half  century, 
there  must  be  an  awakening  of  the  civic  intelligence  and 
an  arousing  of  the  civic  conscience.  The  neighborhood 
civic  club  is  the  means  to  that  end.  I  can  express  appro- 
val in  no  way  more  strongly  than  by  saying  that,  al- 
though I  am  a  very  busy  man,  I  am  going  to  find  time 
to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  civic  club  that  meets  in 
No.  23  school  building,  as  an  expression  of  my  com- 
mon citizenship  in  this  community."  But  one  clergy- 
man, the  Reverend  A.  M.  O'Neil,  decided  that  this 
neighborly  gathering  of  the  citizens  for  civic  discussion 
and  the  furnishing  of  young  people  with  wholesome 
opportunities  for  recreation  was  somehow  an  evil  thing. 
It  is  probable  that  if  he  had  investigated  he  would  have 
come  to  the  same  conclusion  as  did  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  his  church  who  wrote:  "A  careful  study 
of  the  movement  extending  over  a  period  of  nearly  two 
seasons  has  convinced  the  writer  that  it  has  demon- 
strated its  need  and  worth.  The  social  center  can  do 
more  toward  eliminating  racial,  religious  and  political 
bigotry  than  any  other  known  factor." 

Finally  each  of  the  newspapers,  of  which  the  city 
has  five,  swung  or  was  swung  around  to  a  position  of 
hostility.  In  no  case  was  this  due  to  the  sincere  attitude 
of  the  newspaper  men  themselves.  Indeed,  when  the 


196  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

final  show-down  came,  the  ablest  editor  in  the  city,  Livy 
S.  Richard,  of  the  Rochester  Times,  resigned  his  position 
rather  than  attack  the  right  of  the  citizens  to  freely 
discuss  matters  of  public  interest  in  their  own  build- 
ings. The  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  newspapers, 
all  of  which  had  favored  the  social  center  idea  at  the 
start,  might  have  been  accounted  for  in  part  by  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  neighborhood  civic  clubs  invited 
Samuel  Hopkins  Adams,  author  of  "The  Great  Ameri- 
can Fraud,"  to  speak  before  it  upon  "Under-currents 
of  Journalism,"  but  the  sufficient  reason  for  their  oppos- 
ing the  practical  development  of  the  means  of  the  citi- 
zens' taking  care  of  their  own  municipal  affairs  lay 
in  the  fact  that  these,  newspapers,  being  themselves  pri- 
vate interests,  naturally  allied  themselves  with  the 
other  private  interests  as  against  the  growing  power 
of  the  citizenship  seeking  to  promote  the  common 
good. 

All  this  was  to  be  expected,  and  it  was  to  be  taken 
for  granted  that  the  "boss,"  as  the  agent  of  the 
"powers  that  prey,"  should  oppose  the  organization  of 
the  citizenship  to  look  after  their  affairs  in  the  common 
interest.  If  he  remained  "boss"  the  citizens  could  not 
control  their  own  city,  and  if  they  became  "boss"  and 
sought  to  understand  the  administration  of  their  affairs, 
then  he  could  not  continue  to  rule  the  town  by  the  old 
methods  of  underground  manipulation.  If  the  people 
continued  to  perfect  their  machine  of  democracy,  then 
his  machine  of  corruption  would  be  scrapped.  It  was 
natural  that  he  should  fight  for  his  control,  for  it  was 
his  source  of  livelihood,  since  he  had  no  other  income 
except  that  derived  from  securing  and  protecting  the 
privilege  of  the  great  corporations  to  rob  the  citizens. 

Everything  would  have  gone  smoothly,  however,  even 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  197 

with  the  big  business  men,  the  few  reactionary  clergy- 
men and  the  newspapers  opposing  the  citizens'  organized 
discussion,  if  the  normal  social  center  development  had 

fbeen  complete,  that  is,  if  the  mayor  of  the  city  had  been 
assumed  to  be  the  president  of  the  city-wide  league  of 
civic  clubs.  To  be  sure,  he  had  been  selected  by  the 
"boss"  and  nominated  by  his  manipulation  of  the 
party  convention.  To  be  sure,  he  was  "a  machine  prod- 
uct"; but,  so  were  some  of  the  minor  officials  in  the 
city;  aldermen,  for  instance,  and  these  invariably,  when 
they  actually  grasped  the  idea  of  the  common  organiza- 
tion of  the  citizens,  welcomed  it  and  rejoiced  in  the 
opportunity  it  gave  them  for  transferring  their  alle- 
giance from  the  agent  of  the  exploiting  private  interests 
to  the  people. 

A  study  of  the  experiences  of  other  towns  leads  the 
writer  to  the  feeling  that  the  reason  why  the  social 
center  movement  in  Rochester  developed  into  a  tempo- 
rarily losing  fight  of  the  citizens  for  the  right  to  use 
their  own  buildings  for  the  orderly  discussion  of  their 
own  common  welfare  was  simply  that  the  citizens  failed 
to  assume  that  the  mayor  was  on  the  side  of  the  com- 
mon interest.  Those  who  know  that  mayor  will  perhaps 
smile  at  the  idea  that  he  would  be  capable  of  standing 
out  against  the  powers  of  municipal  corruption  or  that 
he  would  be  able  to  resist  the  dominance  of  the  "boss," 
but  the  writer  is  sure  that  he  would  have  done  just  that 
thing  if  the  citizens  had  recognized  him  as  their  leader 
instead  of  assuming  that  he  was  a  henchman  of  the  pri- 
vate interferer.  It  was  a  ward-heeler  of  far  less  natural 
liking  for  decent  methods  of  public  administration  than 
the  mayor  had  who  made  the  discovery  through  his  as- 
sociation with  other  citizens  on  the  common  ground  of 

the  social  center,  which  he  put  into  these  words :    "By 
14 


198  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

-!    It  is  more  fun  to  work  with  people  than  under  Of 
over  them!" 

-V  As  it  was,  while  there  were  many  fine  evidences  of 
the  natural  expression  of  the  social  center  movement 
in  new  and  beautiful  ways  during  the  third  season,  it 
was  continually  under  the  fire  of  misrepresentation. from 
the  press  and  of  hostility  from  the  city  hall.  During 
this  season,  through  the  cooperation  of  the  Rochester 
Dental  Society,  the  first  dental  office  to  be  opened  in  a 
'schoolhouse  in  Rochester  was  installed.  Through  the 
Cooperation  of  the  Rochester  Art  Club,  the  beginning 
of  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  an  art  gallery,  which  is 
so  finely  developed  in  Richmond,  Indiana,  was  begun 
in  Rochester.  During  this  season,  also,  the  experimen- 
tation in  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  local  health 
office  which  offers  the  perfectly  feasible  means  of  sys- 
tematizing the  public  health  movement  was  made  through 
the  devotion  of  Dr.  John  A.  Whittle  and  the  coopera- 
tion of  the  city  health  department.  During  this  year, 
too,  the  neighborhood  social  center  organization  was 
shown  to  be  the  ideal  agency  for  the  celebration  of 
civic  holidays  and  festivals.  For  instance,  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Fourth  of  July  in  one  neighborhood,  the 
coming  civic  club  requested  that  the  chief  of  police 
keep  patrolmen  away  from  the  schoolhouse  and  grounds 
as  they  wanted  the  honor  of  maintaining  order  during 

ithe  celebration,  which  they  did  successfully  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  ten  thousand  people  gathered  during  the 
day  and  evening.  This  year  saw  also  the  beginning  of 
the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  motion  picture  theater 
and  the  demonstration  of  the  marvelous  possibilities  of 
this  social  magnet  not  only  for  young  people's  gather- 
ing but  for  bringing  all  people,  even  those  who  do  not 
speak  English,  to  a  common  ground  of  enjoyment.  And 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  199 

in  this  third  season  began  the  use  of  the  neighborhood 
librarian's  desk  in  the  social  center  as  the  local  branch 
of  the  information  distributing  system  regarding  menless 
jobs  and  jobless  men  which  demonstrated  the  perfect 
feasibility  not  only  of  making  the  schoolhouse  a  voca- 
tional bureau  for  young  people  but  a  permanent  em- 
ployment bureau  for  all. 

The  appropriation  for  this  third  season  had  been 
double  that  of  the  second,  something  more  than  twenty 
thousand  dollars  being  available,  and  by  the  end  of 
the  season,  there  were  eighteen  school  buildings  being 
used  as  neighborhood  centers. 

Unfortunately,  however,  the  fight  was  on,  and  in 
this  fight,  the  mayor  who  controlled  the  appropriation 
was  lined  up  on  the  side  of  the  boss.  The  school 
board  earnestly  recommended  an  appropriation  which 
would  make  possible  the  continuance  and  natural  exten- 
sion of  the  movement.  It  is  significant  that  in  order 
to  retain  his  grip  the  boss  was  forced  to  abandon 
the  old  fiction  of  party  loyalty  and  to  line  up  all  of 
the  forces  of  reaction  and  bossism  together,  that 
lis  the  "machine"  was  forced  to  become  bi-partisan, 
•which  of  course  is  the  preliminary  to  its  ultimate 
Destruction. 

The  campaign  at  the  fall  election  centered  in  the 
question  of  the  continued  use  of  the  schoolhouses  as 
centers  of  democratic  intelligence  and  popular  sov- 
ereignty; and,  as  Ray  Stannard  Baker  says,  "the  bosses 
won."  It  may  be  well  to  give  Mr.  Baker's  description* 
of  what  happened  afterward,  remembering  that  the 
citizens  labored  under  the  bad  handicap  of  having  the 


*  American  Magazine,  September,  1910. 


200  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

mayor  on  the  side  of  the  private  interests  instead  of 
on  their  side. 

The  bosses  won,  but  their  victory  did  not,  after  all,  settle 
the  problem  of  the  school  centers.  The  people  began  to  wake 
up.  The  newspaper  discussion  waxed  warmer  than  ever; 
Father  O'Neil  denounced  with  greater  and  greater  vigor. 
The  fate  of  the  work  hinged  on  the  appropriation.  If  Boss 
Aldridge's  machine  would  grant  the  money,  the  school  cen- 
ters could  go  ahead;  if  the  boss  would  not,  they  would  have 
to  close  up  the  work. 

I  suppose  Rochester  never  before  saw  such  a  succession  of 
demonstrations.  Delegations  came  daily,  sometimes  almost 
hourly,  to  visit  the  mayor,  until  the  mayor  was  actually  ill 
with  the  pressure.  Not  only  were  the  school  center  clubs 
represented,  but  all  the  progressive  forces  of  Rochester  lined 
themselves  up.  Delegates  of  the  Federated  Women's  Clubs 
marched  to  the  City  Hall  in  a  body,  the  labor  unions  sent 
delegations,  so  did  many  of  the  fraternal  orders,  especially 
the  Jewish  orders.  The  Protestant  Ministerial  Association, 
after  a  hard  fight  among  its  members,  declared  in  favor  of 
the  school  centers. 

Finally  as  a  result  of  this  remarkable  popular  agitation  the 
progressives  succeeded  in  preventing  the  entire  discontinu- 
ance of  the  appropriation  for  the  school  centers,  but  they 
had  to  accept  a  considerable  reduction. 

This  reduction  presaged  a  curtailment  of  the  work,  but  so 
great  was  the  enthusiasm  of  the  staff  of  directors  of  the 
school  centers  for  the  thing  they  were  doing  that  they 
agreed,  when  the  money  ran  out,  to  continue  to  the  end  of 
the  season  without  salary.  And  that  is  what  happened. 
They  closed  their  work  this  spring  after  the  most  successful 
year  they  have  had — the  wide  discussion  and  opposition  hav- 
ing given  to  it  a  new  vitality  and  dignity. 
,  On  April  ipth  the  special  election  for  Congressman  was 
held;  and  the  boss,  flushed  with  his  victory  of  last  fall, 
and  with  no  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  revolt  going 


BEGINNINGS   IN   ROCHESTER  201 

on  around  him,  nominated  himself  for  Congress.  By  this 
Itime  the  reaction  was  complete.  The  progressive  spirit, 
fanned  into  flame,  expressed  itself  at  the  polls  in  an  over- 
whelming defeat  of  the  "boss." 

Of  course,  "bossism"  is  not  yet  dead  at  Rochester.  "I  am 
still  alive,"  the  boss  is  reported  to  have  said  after  the  elec- 
tion. So  are  the  old  authorities  which  he  represents.  And 
the  struggle  in  the  future .  will  be  fiercer,  more  desperate, 
than  it  has  been  in  the  past,  as  the  minds  of  men  become 
clarified  as  to  the  real  issues  involved. 

In  conclusion  the  point  I  want  to  make  is  that  the  spirit 
which  underlies  the  defeat  of  the  boss — the  same  spirit 
which  vivifies  the  insurgent  movement  of  the  west  and  caused 
the  overturn  in  Congress  during  the  past  summer — is  "a 
great,  a  steady,  a  long-continued  movement  of  the  public- 
mind,"  and  that  it  cannot  be  deflected  by  abuse  nor  charged 
to  agitators,  for  it  is  the  universal  struggle  of  growth,  of  the 
new  against  the  old,  of  self-government  against  boss-govern- 
ment, of  internal  authority  in  religion  against  external  au- 
thority, of  community  enterprise  in  business  against  private 
monopoly,  in  short,  of  democracy  against  aristocracy. 

The  later  developments  in  Rochester  were  told  by  Pro- 
fessor George  M.  Forbes,  who,  as  president  of  the  board 
of  education,  was  closest  to  the  movement  in  that  city, 
in  his  address  entitled  "Lessons  Learned  in  Rochester/* 
given  at  the  First  National  Conference  on  Social  Center 
Development  at  Madison,  October,  1911.  This  address 
has  been  printed  as  a  bulletin,  and,  like  the  other 
addresses  given  at  this  meeting,  may  be  secured  by 
writing  to  the  Bureau  of  Social  Center  Development, 
the  University  Extension  Division,  Madison,  Wis- 
consin. 

The  first  off-shoot  of  the  movement  in  Rochester 
appeared  in  a  rural  community  north  of  the  city,  in  the 
tenth  school  district  of  the  town  of  Greece,  where  the 


202  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

citizens  came  together  and  organized  a  neighborhood 
civic  club  which  not  only  led  to  the  equipment  and 
full  use  of  their  schoolhouse  but  also  served  as  the 
means  of  their  securing  better  service  from  the  rail- 
road and  laid  the  foundation  of  their  cooperative  mar- 
keting. 

"  During  the  second  year,  a  delegation  of  thirty-one 
people  from  Buffalo  visited  the  social  centers  in  Roches- 
ter and  returned  with  the  recommendation  that  the 
schoolhouses  in  Buffalo  should  be  opened  for  civic  use. 
Their  visit  was  followed  by  that  of  Superintendent 
Henry  P.  Emerson  who,  after  spending  several  days 
investigating,  said  before  one  of  the  civic  clubs:  "I  have 
recently  returned  from  a  trip  to  Europe  which  I  took 
to  see  the  educational  systems  and  the  development  of 
the  public  schools.  What  I  saw  at  one  of  your  social 
centers  last  night,  and  what  I  have  been  seeing  here 
to-day,  lead  me  to  think  that  here  in  America  there 
are  some  developments  as  worthy  of  copying  as  anything 
in  Europe.  I  came  to  Rochester  unannounced,  because 
I  wanted  to  see  the  social  centers  in  their  usual  activities 
and  not  on  parade.  They  seem  to  be  successful  and 
popular.  The  city  of  Buffalo  means  to  be  progressive 
and  we  are  ready  to  copy  anything  that  seems  to  be 
an  improvement.  I  think  that  we  shall  copy  this  idea 
from  Rochester."  Buffalo,  however,  did  not  copy  the 
idea,  for  after  he  made  this  statement,  Mr.  Emerson 
learned  that  the  machine  in  Buffalo  did  not  like  the  idea 
any  better  than  the  "organization"  in  Rochester  did,  and 
Mr.  Emerson  did  not  care  to  antagonize  the  men  who 
manage  cities  by  developing  the  means  through  which 
the  citizens  could  control  their  own  town. 
The  same  sort  of  thing  happened  in  a  number  of  other 


BEGINNINGS   IN    ROCHESTER  203 

cities,  Syracuse,  Scranton,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Har- 
risburg.  Attracted  by  the  awakening  of  the  new  spirit 
in  Rochester,  people  in  each  of  these  cities  attempted 
to  follow  that  city's  example.  When  they  began,  how- 
ever, they  discovered  that  the  private  groups  which  were 
controlling  the  town  seriously  objected  to  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  citizenship  to  become  informed  upon  public 
matters,  and  they  either  changed  to  the  paternalistic 
method  followed  in  New  'York  City,  or  gave  up  alto- 
gether. 

Then  the  idea  was  transplanted  to  the  west. 

One  of  the  visitors  of  the  social  centers  in  Rochester 
was  Senator  Winfield  Gaylord  of  Wisconsin.  On  the 
occasion  of  his  visit,  he  said:  "This  is  a  miracle  in 
New  York  State.  It  is  manna,  which  tastes  good,  but 
it  has  no  apparent  connection  with  its  environment,  and 
I  am  afraid  that  it  won't  last  overnight.  If  this  develop- 
ment had  appeared  in  Wisconsin  instead  of  New  York, 
it  would  have  been  a  crop  and  it  would  stay." 

The  fact  is  that  while  the  strong  meat  of  democracy 
was  proving  too  much  for  the  feeble  digestion  of 
Rochester,  it  had  begun  to  be  the  regular  diet  of  Wis- 
consin and  the  other  progressive  states.  Indeed  the 
social  center  idea  is  just  another  way  of  saying  the 
"Wisconsin  idea,"  just  the  expression  in  the  local  neigh- 
borhood of  the  method  of  fully  using  the  public  edu- 
cational apparatus  which  on  the  larger  scale  of  the 
commonwealth  had  begun  to  make  the  University  of 
Wisconsin  the  leader  among  Universities.  The  mark 
of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  is  the  splendid  fact 
that  the  people,  all  the  people  throughout  the  state,  real- 
ize that  they  own  this  institution,  and  that  the  men 
and  women  on  its  staff  are  their  hired  men  and  women. 
The  map  of  Wisconsin  is  a  picture  of  the  campus  of  the 


204  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

University  as  served  through  its  great  extension  division. 
Most  universities  have  regarded  themselves  and  been 
regarded  somewhat  as  sacred  shrines  wherein  is  kept  ever 
burning  the  lamp  of  knowledge  and  whereto  devotees  of 
abstract  truth  come  to  worship.  The  University  of  Wis- 
consin has  led  the  way  to  the  new  conception  Jthat  the 
function  of  the  university  is  to  serve  rather  as  a  central 
power  house  whose  great  dynamos  produce  driving  force 
and  light  not  only  for  self  illumination  but  for  service 
of  light  and  power  to  all  the  state. 

Recognizing  that  the  fundamental  organization  of  the 
citizenship  for  democratic  understanding  and  expression 
through  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  in  each  district  in 
the  state  would  be  the  means  of  facilitating  the  great 
movement  for  the  state's  self-service  through  its  univer- 
sity, there  was  established,  in  the  fall  of  1910,  the  Bureau 
of  Social  Center  Development  in  the  Extension  Division 
of  Wisconsin. 

The  next  spring,  at  Dallas,  Texas,  was  called  the  first 
large  conference  on  social  center  development.  Its 
chief  promoter  was  Colonel  Frank  P.  Holland,  owner 
and  publisher  of  Farm  and  Ranch  and  Holland's  Mag- 
azine. This  public  spirited  leader,  becoming  interested 
in  the  idea,  had  put  the  ablest  man  on  his  staff,  Charles 
W.  Holman,  in  the  field  to  spread  the  gospel  of-  the 
common  ground.  The  meeting  brought  hundreds  of 
men  and  women  from  all  parts  of  the  southwest  and 
served  to  give  great  impetus  to  the  movement.  To-day 
schoolhouses  are  beginning  to  be  used  as  centers  of 
democracy,  recreation,  neighborhood  through  all  that 
region. 

In  the  autumn  of  1911,  there  was  called  at  Madison, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  University  Extension  Division, 
the  First  National  Conference  on  Social  Center  Develop- 


BEGINNINGS   IN    ROCHESTER  205 

ment.     Of  this  conference  so  conservative  a  publication 
as  The  Survey  said : 

It  was  a  conference  to  be  remembered  from  New  York  to 
California,  from  Texas  to  North  Dakota.  Delegates  came 
representing  city  clubs,  boards  of  education,  welfare  com- 
mittees, churches,  universities,  and  various  associations  for 
civic  and  social  betterment.  A  new  spirit  of  enthusiasm,  a 
new  hope  for  the  future,  a  fresh  and  eager  interest  in  the 
interchange  of  ideas  and  experiences  seemed  to  fill  the  air. 
Before  an  audience  which  filled  the  large  gymnasium  was 
read  the  greeting  sent  to  the  conference  by  Edwin  Markham, 
author  of  "The  Man  With  the  Hoe." 

"We  men  of  earth  have  here  the  stuff 
Of  Paradise.     We  have  enough ! 
We  need  no  other  things  to  build 
The  stairs  into  the  Unfulfilled- 
No  other  ivory  for  the  doors, 
No  other  marble  for  the  floors, 
No  other  cedar  for  the  beam 
And  dome  of  man's  immortal  dream. 

"Here  on  the  paths  of  every  day — 
Here  on  the  common  human  way — 
Is  all  the  busy  gods  would  take 
To  build  a  heaven,  to  mold  and  make 
New  Edens.     Ours  the  stuff  sublime 
To  build  eternity  in  time  I" 

During  three  days  of  a  varied  program  this  underlying 
thought  was  repeated  that  here  we  have  both  the  tools  and 
the  workmen  with  which  to  build  a  new  democracy. 

At  this  meeting  the  two  ideas  of  developing  the  full 
use  of  the  schoolhouse,  the  paternal,  by  which  the  public 
servants  use  these  buildings  to  manage  the  people,  and 
the  democratic,  by  which  the  citizens  use  these  buildings 


206  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

to  direct  the  government,  were  brought  into  direct  and 
clear  contrast  by  the  proposal  of  a  delegation  from 
New  York  City  that  the  constitution  of  the  national  asso- 
ciation to  be  formed  should  embody  the  uplift  spirit  of 
the  New  York  movement,  and  the  proposal  of  the  west- 
ern men  and  women  that  the  movement  should  be  frankly 
-^democratic  in  its  aim.  After  a  full  discussion,  it  was 
finally  agreed  that  out  of  this  meeting  should  develop 
the  "Social  Center  Association  of  America,"  whose  pur- 
pose it  should  be  "to  promote  the  development  of  intelli- 
gent public  spirit  through  community  use  of  the  com- 
mon schoolhouse — for  free  discussion  of  public  questions 
and  all  wholesome,  civic,  educational  and  recreational 
^.activities."  The  fundamental  idea  of  the  social  center 
regarding  its  membership  was  also  expressed  in  the  con- 
stitution adopted  by  this  convention,  namely,  that  while 
one  has  to  join  in  order  to  be  an  active  member,  "the 
members  of  this  association  are  the  people  of  the  United 
States." 

It  was  the  getting  together  of  some  of  us  to  promote 
the  getting  together  of  all  of  us  in  the  place  that  belongs 
to  all  of  us  to  do  the  work  that  no  less  than  all  of  us 
can  do. 

"What  I  see  in  this  movement,"  said  Governor  Wilson, 
at  this  meeting  in  Madison,  "is  a  recovery  of  the  con- 
structive and  creative  genius  of  the  American  people." 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE  PUBLIC  LECTURE  CENTER 

In  the  program  of  complete  social  center  development 
the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  public  lecture  center  is 
an  important  element.  In  many  cities  this  extension  of 
the  use  of  school  buildings  has  been  begun,  but  nowhere 
else  in  the  world  has  so  large  a  public  lecture  system 
been  developed  as  in  New  York  City.  In  Rochester, 
where  the  basic  organization  -of  the  citizens  in  the  sev- 
eral districts  made  possible  the  people's  having  a  voice 
in  the  selection  of  the  speakers  and  the  topics  to  be  pre- 
sented, the  attendance  at  each  public  lecture  averaged 
nearly  a  third  more  than  in  New  York  City,  and  thus 
it  was  demonstrated  that  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as 
a  lecture  center  will  be  most  successful  only  as  it  is 
made  a  part  of  a  democratically  controlled  and  compre- 
hensive focusing  of  community  activities,  instead  of 
being  developed  autocratically  as  an  independent  educa- 
tional provision,  as  in  New  York  City  and  elsewhere. 

The  steady,  consistent  expansion  of  the  New  York 
Public  Lecture  system  through  the  past  quarter  of  a 
century  has  been  very  largely  due  to  the  devotion  and 
administrative  capacity  of  Dr.  Henry  M.  Leipziger,  who, 
as  Supervisor  of  Public  Lectures,  occupies  a  position  not 
subordinate  to,  but  coordinate  with,  the  office  of  city 
superintendent  of  schools. 

207 


208  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

Dr.  Leipziger  here  briefly  sets  forth  the  results  of  his 
long  experience  in  the  administration  of  the  New  York 
Public  Lecture  system: 

The  social  function  of  the  school  is  best  encouraged  by 
the  features  which  may  be  included  in  the  term  school 
extension.  This  school  extension  includes  summer 
schools,  vacation  schools  and  recreation  centers,  but  the 
real  pioneer  in  the  work  of  school  extension  (which  is 
the  opening  of  the  schoolhouse  all  hours  of  the  day  all 
days  of  the  year)  was  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  for 
public  lectures  to  adults  in  New  York  City,  or,  as  it  was 
first  styled,  "free  lectures  to  working  men  and  working 
women." 

The  underlying  principle  of  this  scheme  of  instruction, 
for  it  is  a  well  organized  scheme  of  instruction,  is  that 
education  must  be  unending.  The  details  of  the  system 
cannot  be  dwelt  upon,  but  the  establishment  of  this 
scheme  of  adult  education  is  justified  on  the  theory  that 
the  education  furnished  by  the  city  shall  not  end  with 
the  high  school  or  the  university,  but  it  shall  furnish  the 
opportunity  for  a  continuance  of  education  to  those  whose 
school  life  has  been  limited  or  who  acquire  later  in  life 
some  yearning  for  higher  things. 

Established  in  1888  in  six  schoolhouses  in  the  thickly- 
settled  portions  of  the  city,  they  have  continued,  until 
now  lectures  are  held  in  about  175  places  in  the  City 
of  Greater  New  York,  including  schoolhouses,  museum 
halls  and  church  halls,  and  reaching  a  total  annual  attend- 
ance of  about  a  million  and  a  quarter.  The  equipment 
at  each  lecture  center  consists  of  a  stereopticon  outfit, 
with  screen,  and  other  necessary  apparatus;  and  during 
the  past  five  years,  having  in  view  the  use  of  school 
buildings  for  adult  education,  many  splendid  auditoriums 


THE   PUBLIC   LECTURE   CENTER  209 

with  comfortable  seats  similar  to  those  in  a  theater  have 
been  provided. 

The  main  idea  of  the  lecture  course,  of  course,  is  in- 
struction and  not  entertainment,  although  as  a  rational 
system  of  entertainment  the  expenditure  could  be  justified. 

The  scheme  of  the  lectures  covers  all  the  great  divisions 
of  human  knowledge,  but  those  of  more  immediate  and 
practical  value  are  given  the  preference.  Lectures  on 
sanitation,  health,  civics,  natural  science,  descriptive  geog- 
raphy, art,  music  and  literature  all  have  their  place  in 
this  scheme.  It  is  found  that  courses  of  lectures,  ex- 
tending to  as  many  as  twenty-eight,  with  examinations 
and  collateral  reading,  have  proven  exceedingly  popular. 
These  courses  of  lectures  have  developed  and  confirmed 
the  habit  of  study  and  they  lead  indirectly  to  larger 
use  of  the  excellent  collection  of  books  in  the  various 
public  libraries  in  the  city. 

The  public  lecture  course  also  maintains  its  own  plat- 
form library.  The  circulating  libraries  have  perhaps  a 
single  copy  of  any  particular  book.  In  connection  with 
the  courses  of  lectures  the  book  recommended  for  col- 
lateral reading  by  the  lecturer  is  provided  by  the  board 
of  education. 

Public  lectures  to  adults  in  the  schools  bring  the  very 
best  teachers  in  the  universities  and  the  very  best  scholars 
in  every  field  to  engage  in  the  work  of  public  teaching, 
for  the  lecturers  include  college  presidents,  professors, 
teachers,  scholars,  artists,  physicians,  travelers,  musicians, 
et  cetera,  making  a  company  representing  all  the  phases 
of  intellectual  life,  held  together  by  a  common  purpose. 

The  value  of  the  work  is  shown  by  these  letters 
received  from  auditors.  A  college  graduate  writes:  "I 
believe  there  are  many  who  think  the  lectures  are  only 
for  those  who  have  not  had  the  opportunity  to  receive 


210  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

a  high  school  or  college  education.  The  more  intelligent 
the  hearer  the  greater  the  benefit  derived."  Another 
auditor  writes :  "I  shall  try  my  best  to  pass  the  exam- 
ination, (referring  to  a  course  on  first  aid  to  the  in- 
jured), although  I  am  very  absent-minded  and  nervous. 
If  I  fail  I  shall  at  least  have  tried  my  best  and  learned 
something  to  my  advantage.  I  cannot  say  anything  in 
favor  of  the  Monday  night  lectures  as  my  husband  only 
attends  them  because  I  have  three  children  who  cannot 
be  left  alone.  I  am  glad  my  beloved  spouse  stays  with 
them  on  Thursday  evenings  to  grant  me  the  benefit  of 
the  lectures." 

The  extended  uses  of  the  public  school  only  indicate 
the  wider  influence  that  the  school  should  exert.  The 
schoolhouse  is  the  natural  meeting  place  of  the  American 
citizen.  Here  all  meet  upon  an  equality  and  in  the 
schoolhouse  it  would  seem  as  if  the  citizens  of  any  par- 
ticular neighborhood  should  naturally  meet  to  consider 
questions  either  of  neighborhood  interest,  or  questions 
that  relate  to  broad  educational  policies.  The  school- 
house  should  be  the  natural  meeting  place  of  all  citizens 
to  consider  great  questions  of  politics  and  each  school- 
house  should  become  a  genuine  "people's  forum,"  for, 
where  better  than  in  the  schoolhouse  can  we  say,  "Come 
let  us  reason  together!" 

The  results  observed  from  the  public  lectures  during 
the  past  twenty  years  may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

(a)  Continuation  of  systematic  study; 

(b)  Americanization  of  immigrants; 

(c)  Improvement  of  sanitation  and  health; 

(d)  Increased  interest  in  our  city's  government; 

(e)  The  formation  of  people's  forums  for  discussion 

of  social  and  economic  questions; 


THE   PUBLIC   LECTURE   CENTER  211 

(f)  Greater  efficiency  and  earning  power; 

(g)  Appreciation  of  our  art  and  science  museums; 
(h)    Improved  reading  taste  of  the  public; 

(i)    Wider  and  larger  interest  in  the  finer  things  of 
life. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  BRANCH    PUBLIC    LIBRARY 

There  is  no  specialization  of  a  form  of  community  self- 
service  more  remarkable  than  the  independent  develop- 
ment of  the  public  library.  This  movement  is  distinctly 
and  wholly  educational.  It  has  not  been  subject  to  com- 
mercialization as  have  the  recreational  forms  of  com- 
munity activity  which  began  in  the  schoolhouse  of  the 
early  days.  Indeed,  the  establishment  of  a  library  in 
each  schoolhouse  which  should  serve,  not  only  the  chil- 
dren, but  all  the  members  of  the  community,  was  a  very 
important  part  of  the  propaganda  of  the  leader  in  early 
public  school  development,  Horace  Mann.  Moreover,  in 
some  cities  the  establishment  of  public  library  service 
was,  at  its  beginning,  made  a  branch  of  the  public  edu- 
cation system.  Perhaps  the  importance  of  public  library 
provision  would  not  have  been  realized  if  there  had  not 
been  a  period  of  separate  development,  but  now  men  are 
turning  to  the  problem  of  coordinating  public  library 
service  with  other  forms  of  social  self-education. 

In  Grand  Rapids,  St.  Louis,  Buffalo  and  other  cities 
schoolhouses  have  begun  to  be  used  as  branch  libraries, 
or,  at  least,  as  distributing  stations.  In  the  city  of 
Rochester,  where  there  is  no  central  municipal  library, 
the  possibility  of  public  library  service  entirely  through 
the  use  of  the  schoolhouses  as  social  centers,  with  no 
expense  for  a  separate  building,  was  demonstrated. 

212 


THE   BRANCH    PUBLIC   LIBRARY  213 

Dr.  Charles  E.  McLenegan,  the  Public  Librarian  of 
Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  is  exceptionally  well  fitted  to  dis- 
cuss the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  branch  public  library, 
for  he  came  to  his  present  position  from  extended  and 
successful  experience  as  a  school  administrator. 

Mr.  McLenegan  writes: 

There  are  some  classes  in  the  community  who  will  have 
books  without  a  public  library;  and  there  are  some  who 
will  never  look  into  a  book  although  they  are  as  plentiful 
as  the  autumn  leaves.  Between  these  two  extremes  is 
that  great  body  of  our  fellow  citizens  who  toil  six  days 
each  week  in  shops,  in  offices,  in  stores,  in  homes,  many 
of  whom  do  read,  more  of  whom  would  read,  and  whose 
circumstances  compel  them  to  depend  on  the  public  library 
for  their  books.  These  are  the  people  who  can  be  won 
to  read  books  to  their  great  profit,  if  access  to  these 
books  is  not  made  too  difficult.  In  this  matter  of  getting 
at  the  books,  it  is  well  to  consider  a  natural  law,  which 
is  hard  to  state,  but  not  hard  to  recognize.  A  very 
gentle  force,  persistently  and  continuously  applied,  can 
produce  a  most  tremendous  result.  Nature  works  upon 
us  in  that  way  constantly;  in  fact,  it  is  nature's  cus- 
tomary way  of  working,  except  when  she  strikes  us  by 
lightning.  She  does  that  when  she  is  done  with  us. 
Place  an  obstacle,  however  slight,  in  the  path  of  a  cus- 
tomary human  choice  and  you  immediately  cut  off  a 
certain  number  from  the  enjoyment  of  that  choice.  If 
the  obstacle  be  an  exceedingly  slight  one,  only  a  few 
of  the  acts  are  hindered;  but  if  the  obstacle  be  a  more 
considerable  one,  more  and  more  are  hindered  until  the 
obstacle  may  amount  to  a  prohibition  of  the  action. 

To  illustrate  this  by  a  concrete  example.  If  the  sugar 
trust  raises  the  price  of  sugar  one  cent  per  pound  in  the 
15 


214  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

fruit  season,  the  result  is  always  a  falling  off  in  the  sale 
of  fruit  for  preserving,  and  a  further  rise  in  price  of 
sugar  produces  a  glut  in  the  fruit  market  and  the  inflic- 
tion of  ruinous  loss  on  the  fruit  grower.  That  slight 
obstacle  thrown  in  the  way  of  each  housewife  influences 
millions  of  people.  After  two  successive  rainy  days 
what  a  shrinkage  of  optimism  there  is  in  the  world !  In 
a  mild  winter  how  business  is  depressed !  Nature  gov- 
erns us  every  day  and  from  year  to  year  by  the  slight- 
est and  gentlest  of  impulses  and  prohibitions,  and  yet  the 
whole  human  race  moves  obediently  and  unconsciously 
to  these  impulses.  It  is  not  the  mighty  force  that  pro- 
duces the  great  effect.  It  is  the  slow-moving,  unob- 
trusive, quiet  force,  acting  on  vast  areas  and  vast  num- 
bers, that  really  works  a  miracle.  Now  what  is  the 
application  of  all  this  profundity  ?  Simply  this : 

In  all  these  human  actions  which  involve  great  num- 
bers of  people  who  are  free  agents,  if  you  wish  them 
to  do  a  particular  thing,  you  must  rid  the  act  of  discom- 
fort to  the  actor.  You  must  make  it  easy  and  com- 
fortable for  people  to  get  the  books.  The  modern  con- 
ception of  a  public  library  is  a  place  where  books  are 
kept  for  the  free  use  of  all  the  people.  The  place  must 
be  democratic  in  atmosphere,  with  no  more  chance  for 
a  man,  woman  or  child  to  be  under  constraint  because 
of  social  position  than  there  would  be  in  Heaven.  There 
must  be  "welcome"  written  over  every  door,  and  "ser- 
vice" written  on  the  face  of  every  attendant.  A  public 
library  with  a  grouchy  attendant  is  a  contradiction  in 
terms,  for  the  library  is  the  continuation  school  for  the 
people,  and  the  problem  of  the  library  is  how  to  get  the 
people  to  come  to  the  school  and  use  it.  A  library  should 
be  as  "waywise"  as  a  railroad  corporation,  and  you  notice 
that  the  good  railroads  in  the  country  have  subtracted 


THE   BRANCH    PUBLIC   LIBRARY  215 

the  grouchy  and  the  saucy  servants ;  so  we  assume  that, 
in  the  library,  those  who  serve  the  public  are  there  in 
the  modern  spirit  of  glad  service. 

Only  those  who  have  the  best  that  college  and  school 
can  give  know  how  little  that  education  is  compared  to 
the  greater  education  which  every  man  gives  himself, 
and  your  collection  of  books  in  these  days  is  your  true 
university. 

The  librarian's  problem,  therefore,  is  a  simple  one  to 
comprehend.  It  is  nothing  more  than  the  making  of  this 
school  accessible  to  the  greatest  number  of  people  and 
most  helpful  to  them  when  you  have  gotten  your  people 
to  come. 

If  the  library  is  the  people's  college  and  continuation 
school,  the  question  of  paramount  importance  is  how 
to  get  people  to  come  to  the  library.  A  fine  central 
library  is  a  great  thing  to  raise  a  glow  of  civic  pride.  It 
gives  a  city  a  flavor  of  intellectuality.  The  real  ques- 
tion is  how  to  minister  to  the  man  who  wishes  to  use 
books.  Does  this  fine  central  library  make  it  easy  for  the 
people  of  the  city  to  use  books  for  serious  purposes? 
Does  it  add  anything  to  the  difficulty  of  using  books? 
Does  it  add  a  temptation  to  dwell  in  ignorance,  rather 
than  encounter  the  exertion  of  going  to  the  library?  Is 
there  a  shortage  in  the  central  library  idea?  If  so, 
the  grand  central  library  idea  should  be  looked  into. 

Mr.  Carnegie  has  built  more  libraries  than  any  other 
man  in  the  world.  With  him,  the  building  of  a  library 
is  a  simple  business  question — how  to  make  the  building 
of  the  greatest  service  to  the  largest  number  of  people. 
He  is  no  spendthrift  and  he  is  not  a  sentimentalist.  He 
puts  up  no  buildings  because  he  wishes  to  glorify  him- 
self, or  to  exalt  his  name,  or  merely  to  put  up  a  library. 
The  sole  question  is  one  of  utility.  He  has  found  that 


216  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

if  you  draw  a  circle  with  a  radius  of  one  mile  around  a 
library,  you  will  have  included  about  all  the  territory 
in  your  circle  that  this  library  can  serve  effectively. 
Roughly  speaking,  a  space  of  about  four  square  miles 
is  the  sphere  of  influence  of  a  public  library.  The  best 
way  to  bring  the  case  home  is  to  try  it  on  yourself. 

Suppose  you  come  home  in  the  evening  from  the  shop 
— I  am  speaking  now  of  a  city  library — suppose  you 
come  from  the  shop,  where  some  of  the  really  thoughtful 
men  of  the  modern  city  work.  You  reach  home  possibly 
at  six  o'clock,  change  your  clothing  and  remove  the  grime 
of  the  day's  toil,  get  your  supper  and  take  a  little  thought- 
ful tobacco  to  soothe  the  irritations  of  the  day  and  induce 
a  philosophic  spirit.  That  program  is  not  too  self  indul- 
gent, is  it  ?  The  man  who  told  us  how  to  live  on  twenty- 
four  hours  a  day,  says  that  every  man  in  creation  has  a 
right  to  that  much.  Put  on  your  overcoat  and  go  to 
the  library  a  mile  away.  If  your  courage  does  not  show 
signs  of  evaporating,  you  are  a  good  man.  If  you  can 
keep  it  up  two  nights  a  week  during  the  winter,  you 
are  a  wonder.  It  does  not  matter  whether  this  man  comes 
from  a  machine  shop,  a  brewery,  a  tannery,  an  office,  or 
a  store.  A  tired  man  is  a  man  who  is  tired,  and  eight 
hours  work  per  day  makes  any  man  tired.  See,  then, 
how  this  man  is  handicapped  in  the  use  of  the  library,  if 
the  central  library  is  a  mile  distant  from  his  home.  If 
he  walks,  he  is  handicapped  by  the  distance  and  by  his 
fatigue  after  his  day  of  toil.  Try  it  yourself.  If  you 
can  pursue  a  systematic  and  profitable  course  of  reading 
throughout  the  winter,  visiting  the  library  once  a  week, 
you  have  demonstrated  your  right  to  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  for  you  are  of  that  stern  stuff  that  nothing  will 
keep  down  or  turn  aside.  You  are  a  profitable  citizen, 
not  because  of  the  library,  but  in  spite  of  it. 


THE   BRANCH    PUBLIC  LIBRARY  217 

Suppose  next  that  he  rides  to  the  library.  Again  he 
is  handicapped,  for  the  car  fare  is  about  a  four  per 
cent,  tax  on  his  day's  wages.  When  you  ask  a  man  for 
money,  you  will  usually  find  that  he  is  from  Missouri, 
and  he  is  easy  compared  to  the  gentle  sex — but  that 
is  another  story.  You  cannot  blame  him,  for  this  is  a 
direct  tax  and  not  concealed  in  the  velvet  paws  of  a 
protective  tariff.  It  is  a  handicap  just  the  same,  and 
remember  that  the  rise  of  one  cent  in  the  price  of  sugar 
has  proved  enough  to  make  man  forego  something  to 
eat.  Where  a  man  gives  up  something  to  eat,  what  show 
have  things  of  the  intellect  in  the  scuffle? 

Third,  whether  he  rides  or  walks,  the  man  who  lives 
a  mile  from  the  library  is  handicapped  in  the  matter  of 
time.  Complaint  of  the  impossibility  of  getting  in  any 
serious  work  in  the  evening  in  the  main  library  is  one 
most  frequently  met.  In  this  aspect  of  the  case,  we  are 
in  a  real  cul-de-sac.  It  has  not  been  demonstrated  that 
a  library  can  be  kept  open  later  than  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  profitably,  and  any  one  who  has  watched  the 
long  dark  procession  of  workers  filing  to  work  on  winter 
mornings  before  daylight,  can  understand  why.  Scipio 
LeMoyne  understood  it:  "To  shoot  straight,  go  to  bed 
the  same  day  you  get  up ;  and  to  think  straight,  use  same 
policy." 

What  can  a  man  who  works  during  the  day  do  in  a 
great  central  public  library?  It  is  well  worth  pondering, 
because  the  opportunity  for  improvement  of  conditions  is 
very  great.  The  improvement  must  come  from  the  li- 
brary folk,  for  the  patient  endurance  by  the  public  of 
insufficient  service  is  one  of  the  most  pathetic  things  in 
life.  Applying  Mr.  Carnegie's  rule,  every  city  has  a  fair 
measure  of  its  present  efficiency  in  library  service.  Every 
four  square  miles  at  the  least  should  have  its  branch  at 


218  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  cross  roads.  The  library  should  be  brought  as  near 
the  home  as  the  school  is  and  be  just  as  convenient  as 
the  postoffice ;  we  would  not  tolerate  a  postal  system  that 
obliged  us  to  go  to  the  central  office  for  our  stamps  or 
our  money  orders.  Now  that  we  have  coupled  the  two, 
why  is  not  the  schoolhouse  the  proper  place  for  the  neigh- 
borhood branch  of  the  public  library  ?  In  the  law  found- 
ing the  Milwaukee  Public  Library  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  prescience  of  this  day  on  which  we  meet,  which 
dictated  the  words  making  it  a  "branch  of  the  public 
school  system."  The  Milwaukee  Public  Library  was 
started  in  the  right  direction.  It  has  not  traveled  far  as 
yet,  but  it  will  I  hope  be  known  hereafter  for  its  relation 
to  the  public  school  system. 

Merely  giving  the  library  a  room  in  the  schoolhouse 
does  not  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case  at  all.  That  is 
compliance  with  the  form  and  not  the  spirit.  A  library 
is  as  much  a  part  of  a  school  as  is  a  teacher  or  a  recita- 
tion room.  Every  schoolhouse  built  should  have  a  per- 
manent and  special  part  set  aside  for  the  branch  of  the 
public  library.  This  room  should  have  its  own  heat  and 
light  and  its  separate  entrance  from  the  street.  It  should 
be  accessible  to  the  pupils  from  the  schoolhouse  and  it 
should  be  open  after  school  so  that  the  citizens  of  the 
neighborhood  can  have  their  turn  in  its  use.  Why  should 
the  plant  be  used  only  five  hours  a  day  and  closed  to  the 
public  after  that  ?  This  library  should  teach  the  pupils 
of  the  schools  the  use  of  books  as  instruments  for  find- 
ing out  what  they  wish  to  know.  Few  boys  in  high 
school  ever  learn  how  to  use  the  aids  that  libraries  have 
in  finding  information.  They  are  helpless  when  turned 
loose  among  books  to  find  their  way  to  the  desired  infor- 
mation. This  the  library  should  teach  pupils  in  every 
school,  and  when  you  have  taught  public  school  pupils 


THE   BRANCH    PUBLIC   LIBRARY  219 

some  dexterity  in  this  use  of  a  library,  you  have  given 
them  a  powerful  impulse  to  use  the  library  ever  after  as 
a  continuation  school. 

It  is  amazing  how  few  people  know  the  purpose  of  an 
index  or  of  a  table  of  contents  in  a  book.  Fewer  still 
know  "Poole's  Index,"  or  the  "Reader's  Guide"  which 
open  a  wealth  of  current  publications.  Only  the  high 
school  boys  who  go  in  for  debates  ever  learn  these. 
When,  however,  boy  or  man  learns  to  use  these  and  a 
few  more,  it  is  really  gratifying  to  see  them  go.  "The 
world  is  all  before  them  where  to  choose."  These  boys 
never  stop  using  books  when  they  leave  school,  and  when 
they  wish  to  know  anything  they  do  not  have  to  ask  aid 
of  any  one.  This  is  making  your  library  a  continuation 
school  and  this  is  the  way  to  do  it.  I  doubt  if  anything 
that  a  child  learns  in  school  classes  is  comparable  in 
importance  to  him  to  this  knowledge  of  how  to  use 
books.  It  stays  by  him  as  long  as  he  lives  and  is  an 
element  of  power  in  his  character  and  a  mighty  engine 
of  self  education  in  his  after  life. 

Another  great  advantage  of  this  branch  in  the  school- 
house  is  that  it  gives  every  home  an  almost  ideal  means 
of  communication  with  the  library — and  that  is  one  of 
the  unsolved  problems  in  a  large  library — how  the  home 
may  communicate  with  the  library.  Thousands  of  little 
messengers  travel  every  day  from  the  home  to  the  school. 
All  that  is  needed  are  proper  finding  lists  and  the  children 
do  the  trotting  for  a  tired  or  busy  father  or  mother.  As 
a  means  of  communication  it  is  ideal,  and  nothing  like  it 
as  a  means  of  reaching  the  homes  now  exists.  Think 
that  over  a  few  times.  I  am  sure  the  more  you  think 
of  it,  the  better  you  will  think  it. 

Last  and  greatest  of  all  is  the  fact  that  this  branch 
of  the  schoolhouse  enlarges  the  function  of  the  school 


220  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

and  bridges  the  path  from  the  conscious  training  which 
is  given  the  child  by  the  teacher  to  that  larger  training 
which  the  child  will  give  himself  hereafter.  It  realizes 
and  puts  into  concrete  form  the  great  truth,  only  half 
understood,  that  a  university  education  is  little  more  than 
the  careful  reading  of  certain  books  which,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  wise  men,  fairly  represent  the  accumulated 
knowledge  in  this  or  that  line  of  human  effort.  It  is 
reassuring  to  reflect  that  the  Washingtons,  the  Franklins, 
the  Lincolns,  and  the  host  of  self  made  men  like  them 
were  not  so  badly  made.  Would  we  could  get  more  of 
them. 

Is  it  a  dream — this  branch  of  the  library  in  the  schools? 
Not  at  all  for  the  future.  The  old  schools  that  are  now 
erected  will  hardly  ever  be  serviceable  in  this  way.  They 
are  there  to  stand  as  monuments  of  how  not  to  do  it 
unless  they  are  rebuilt  and  so  give  us  a  chance.  For 
that  part  of  the  city  which  is  built  up,  we  shall  have  to 
use  branches  of  the  ordinary  type.  But  from  now  on, 
in  the  building  that  is  to  come,  and  that  is  to  mark  our 
contribution  to  the  progress  of  the  day,  let  us  hope  for 
library  branches  in  the  public  schools. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE  PUBLIC   ART   GALLERY 

"You  cannot  sell  chromos  to  everybody  in  Richmond," 
says  Mrs.  M.  F.  Johnston,  President  of  the  Richmond 
(Indiana)  Art  Association.  "I  think  that  when  history 
is  written  it  ought  to  be  recorded  that  early  in  the  twen- 
tieth century,  in  Richmond,  a  common  council  spent  one 
hour  discussing  the  value  to  the  town  of  an  art  exhibit 
and, — appropriated  money  from  the  City  Treasury  for 
its  support."  The  amount  of  that  appropriation  was  one 
hundred  dollars.  The  story  of  how  schoolhouses  began 
to  be  used  as  art  galleries  in  Richmond,  so  that  the  ex- 
pense of  a  separate  building  was  saved,  and  the  pictures 
were  placed  where  they  would  most  powerfully  and  con- 
tinually benefit  the  whole  community,  a  part  of  the  story 
that  lies  back  of  Richmond's  earning  the  title  "The  Art 
Center  of  America,"  is  told  by  one  of  that  city's  distin- 
guished men,  the  Honorable  William  Dudley  Foulke. 
Mr.  Foulke  writes: 

Richmond,  Indiana,  a  city  of  a  little  more  than  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants,  is  a  pioneer  in  the  use  of  a  public 
school  building  as  a  public  art  gallery.  In  that  city, 
in  1897,  it  was  proposed  by  some  of  the  club  women 
and  local  artists  with  the  active  cooperation  of  T.  A. 
Mott,  superintendent  of  public  schools,  to  hold  an  exhj- 

221 


222  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

bition  of  paintings.  A  number  of  citizens  in  the  town 
had  private  collections  of  no  great  size,  but  each  con- 
taining a  few  pictures  of  rather  remarkable  excellence. 
These  were  collected,  and  the  Garfield  School  Building, 
the  best  then  in  the  town,  was  loaned  by  the  school 
commissioners  and  the  superintendent  for  the  purpose 
of  exhibiting  them,  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  summer 
vacation.  The  walls  were  draped  in  some  of  the  rooms, 
the  blackboards  covered,  and  the  desks  removed.  The 
light  was  excellent,  and  the  exhibit  proved  to  be  highly 
successful.  The  people  of  the  city  were  astonished  to 
know  how  many  good  pictures  they  had  in  their  midst. 
The  school  children  visited  the  gallery,  the  works  ex- 
hibited were  explained  to  them,  and  the  public  generally 
was  invited.  An  art  association  was  established,  and 
Ella  Bond  Johnston,  the  wife  of  one  of  our  leading 
physicians,  who  had  shown  great  enthusiasm  for  the 
undertaking,  soon  became  its  president.  At  this  time 
she  had  had  no  special  facilities  or  advantages  for  the 
study  of  art;  but  realizing  the  importance  to  the  com- 
munity of  a  continuance  of  exhibitions  like  the  one  then 
held,  she  determined  that  they  should  be  repeated,  and 
afterwards  fixed  a  limit  of  twenty-five  years  during  which 
she  proposed  to  devote  a  great  part  of  her  time  and 
energy  to  this  work. 

The  association  grew  in  numbers ;  the  use  of  the  Gar- 
field  School  building  was  repeated  each  successive  year; 
professors  in  a  local  college,  teachers  in  the  schools,  news- 
paper men,  local  artists  and  business  men  cooperated; 
the  association  was  not  long  afterwards  incorporated, 
and  all  these  elements  were  represented  upon  its  board 
of  directors,  composed  of  seventeen  of  the  citizens,  men 
and  women.  More  recently  a  permanent  art  committee 
of  nine  and  a  finance  committee  of  seven  have  been 


THE  PUBLIC  ART   GALLERY  223 

added.  The  annual  dues  were  merely  nominal,  but  sub- 
scriptions were  circulated  among  some  of  the  members 
who  were  willing  to  cooperate  and  gifts  were  received 
from  others.  The  association  has  now  held  fourteen 
of  these  exhibitions,  and  mainly  through  the  energy  of 
Mrs.  Johnston,  who  visited  the  studios  and  collections 
of  art  in  the  east,  as  well  as  at  Chicago,  Cincinnati  and 
St.  Louis,  a  supply  of  excellent  pictures  for  each  exhi- 
bition has  been  procured.  The  city  council  has  also  made 
a  moderate  appropriation  for  these  exhibitions;  and, 
although  there  was  no  law  which  authorized  this,  yet 
so  universal  was  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  this  enterprise, 
that  the  amount  is  annually  appropriated  by  unanimous 
vote  and  no  one  in  the  city  is  heard  to  object. 

All  exhibitions  are  absolutely  free  to  every  one,  and 
people  come  from  the  towns  and  country  around.  There 
is  usually  a  formal  opening,  with  short  addresses,  and 
there  are  lectures  upon  questions  connected  with  art 
during  the  exhibition. 

From  the  surplus  of  the  moderate  fund  accumulated 
the  association  began  to  buy  some  pictures;  at  first,  pic- 
tures by  Indiana  artists,  but  the  field  was  soon  extended. 
The  fact  of  these  purchases  encouraged  artists  in  other 
places  to  send  their  work,  and  then  Daniel  G.  Reid,  a 
wealthy  man  now  residing  in  New  York,  but  formerly 
of  Richmond,  gave  $500  a  year  for  the  purpose  of  pur- 
chasing a  picture.  Other  associations  and  individuals 
have  given  single  pictures;  the  Women's  Club  of  Rich- 
mond gave  one;  a  gentleman  from  New  York  presented 
the  association  with  a  bronze  tortoise  fountain  by  Janet 
Scudder  (some  of  whose  work  is  in  the  Luxembourg)  ; 
and  a  picture  which  won  a  competitive  prize  in  Paris 
was  presented  by  the  International  Art  Union  of  that 
city;  until  now  the  permanent  collection  numbers  some 


224  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

twenty  canvases  which,  taken  as  a  whole,  are  works  of 
remarkable  merit. 

Among  the  exhibitors  are  John  W.  Alexander,  Henry 
Hosier,  William  Chase,  George  Inness,  Jr.,  William  Cof- 
fin, Charles  Curran,  Ben.  Foster,  Samuel  Isham,  Henry 
Ranger,  A.  E.  Albright,  Pauline  Dohn  Rudolph,  Karl 
Buehr,  L.  H.  Meakin,  J.  H.  Sharp,  H.  F.  Farney,  Charles 
Warren  Eaton;  besides  the  best  Indiana  artists,  T.  C. 
Steele,  William  Forsyth,  R.  B.  Gruelle,  Otto  Stark,  J. 
Ottis  Adams;  and  local  artists  of  merit,  J.  E.  Bundy, 
Charles  Connor,  and  others.  Foreign  work  was  loaned 
by  New  York  dealers;  Breton,  Bougereau,  Cazin,  Dau- 
bigny,  Von  Bremen,  Rico,  Schreyer  and  Thaulow  have 
been  represented.  In  the  last  exhibit  was  seen  an  ex- 
quisite Japanese  landscape  by  Hiroshi  Yoshida.  Pur- 
chases are  also  made  from  the  collection  by  citizens  of 
the  town;  and  a  few  years  ago  the  children  of  one  of 
the  schools  earned  a  picture  fund  of  $150  and  bought 
an  attractive  painting  for  their  schoolroom — "Shadows 
on  the  Wall,"  by  Albright  of  Chicago.  This  same  school 
earned  another  $150  to  purchase  "Hills  in  Springtime" 
by  William  Wendt.  The  public  schools  own,  besides  five 
hundred  photographs  of  famous  pictures,  oil  and  water 
color  paintings  to  the  number  of  sixty,  mostly  purchased 
from  the  annual  exhibitions. 

The  paintings,  however,  are  only  one  feature  of  the 
exhibition.  There  is  usually  a  collection  of  etchings; 
generally  a  small  collection  of  bronzes,  to  which  Mr. 
McMonnies,  Miss  Scudder  and  others  have  contributed; 
another  room  is  devoted  to  drawings,  sketches  and  col- 
ored prints.  The  handicrafts  are  represented,  pottery, 
metals,  books,  leather  and  textiles  of  artistic  character. 
Some  are  loaned  by  our  citizens,  some  are  sent  by  the 
designers.  In  order  to  encourage  the  development  of 


THE   PUBLIC   ART   GALLERY  225 

painting  in  Indiana,  a  small  prize  is  given  each  year,  by 
one  of  the  ladies  of  the  city,  to  the  best  picture  painted 
by  an  artist  residing  in  that  state.  Judges  are  selected 
from  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis  and  elsewhere,  who 
come  and  pass  upon  the  pictures.  It  is  astonishing  how 
many  creditable  canvases  a  prize  of  this  kind  will  attract, 
not  so  much  for  the  money  as  for  the  reputation  in- 
volved, because  the  Richmond  exhibition  has  now  come 
to  be  recognized  throughout  the  state  as  a  matter  of 
some  little  importance.  A  prize  of  fifty  dollars  this 
year  attracted  some  thirty  pictures,  most  of  which  were 
really  excellent  works.  Another  prize  is  given  to  the 
best  picture  from  an  artist  of  the  city,  and  it  is  astonish- 
ing how  greatly  these  exhibitions  and  the  competition 
thus  developed  has  stimulated  the  group  of  Richmond 
painters. 

Mrs.  Johnston's  work  in  the  'collection  and  exhibition 
of  these  pictures  soon  led  other  cities  of  Indiana  to  fol- 
low the  example  of  Richmond.  First,  it  was  Muncie, 
and  the  same  collection  was  exhibited  in  both  places. 
This  began  more  than  four  years  ago.  A  year  later 
Vincennes  joined  the  group;  then  Indianapolis  and 
Lafayette  became  part  of  the  circuit;  and  finally  Fort 
Wayne  and  Terre  Haute.  By  means  of  the  circuit 
which  Mrs.  Johnston  has  developed  a  larger  number  of 
pictures  can  be  secured,  and  better  pictures  and  at  less 
expense  than  where  the  exhibition  is  confined  to  a  single 
city.  The  impulse  throughout  the  state  in  the  encourage- 
ment of  art  has  been  very  great  but  in  no  other  place 
has  it  been  so  closely  connected  with  public  instruction. 

The  most  important  step  thus  taken,  however,  was 
when  the  present  high  school  building  was  erected.  That 
building  has  just  been  completed.  It  is  a  beautiful  struc- 
ture, and  the  school  board  determined  to  incorporate  in 


226  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

it  three  rooms  for  a  permanent  art  gallery.  These  rooms 
are  located  above  the  auditorium,  are  lighted  from  the 
roof,  and  are  equipped  for  the  purpose  as  perfectly  as 
the  best  modern  galleries  anywhere.  The  gray-green 
covering  of  the  walls  sets  off  the  pictures  to  the  best 
advantage.  The  last  annual  exhibition,  from  October 
I9th  to  November  3rd,  1911,  was  attended  by  multitudes 
of  our  citizens  and  others  from  all  parts  of  the  state. 
The  collection  was  composed  of  four  classes  of  paint- 
ings :  first,  the  permanent  collection  of  the  association ; 
second,  the  circuit  collection,  selected  and  arranged  by 
Mrs.  Johnston;  third,  the  pictures  by  Indiana  artists  ex- 
hibited in  competition  for  the  prize;  fourth,  a  few  pic- 
tures loaned  by  private  individuals. 

By  means  of  this  association  and  these  exhibitions  the 
interest  in  art  in  the  city  of  Richmond  has  been  stimu- 
lated to  such  an  extent  that  a  valuable  series  of  twenty 
university  extension  lectures  was  given  last  winter  by 
Mrs.  C.  K.  Chase  (who  has  made  a  special  study  of  the 
various  schools  of  painting,  both  abroad  and  in  America, 
including  the  Italian,  Dutch,  Spanish  and  English 
schools),  illustrated  by  a  large  number  of  photographs 
and  lantern  slides.  This  instruction  was  given  by  an 
expert  thoroughly  qualified  to  present  the  history  of  art 
and  its  essential  qualities.  Another  important  feature  of 
many  of  these  exhibitions  has  been  that  they  contain  a 
collection  of  drawings  and  paintings  by  the  pupils  in  the 
public  schools.  The  first  efforts  in  this  direction  were 
necessarily  crude,  but  it  is  astonishing  how  the  quality 
of  the  work  has  developed  year  by  year  and  a  good  deal 
of  that  which  is  now  given  is  of  a  very  high  order  of 
merit. 

Such  have  been  the  results  in  our  city  of  the  use  of  a 
public  school  building  as  a  public  art  gallery  when  COITH 


THE   PUBLIC   ART    GALLERY  227 

bined  with  the  efforts  of  a  single  individual  who  has 
shown  extreme  energy  and  organizing  power,  as  well  as 
excellent  taste  and  discrimination  in  the  selection  of 
objects  of  art.  Under  similar  conditions  the  same  results 
can  be  accomplished  elsewhere — the  public  will  always 
be  found  willing  to  cooperate  in  an  undertaking  of  this 
kind  if  it  is  well  conducted. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE   MUSIC   CENTER 

One  of  the  most  valuable  uses  for  which  the  youth  and 
older  people  gathered  in  the  schoolhouse  during  the  early 
period  of  spontaneous  social  center  development  was 
community  music.  There  are  still  districts  in  which  the 
old-fashioned  singing  school  continues  to  meet.  The 
modern  social  center  not  only  carries  on  this  tradition 
of  choral  training,  but  offers  opportunity  and  stimulus 
for  the  other  forms  of  musical  expression  which  are 
possible  in  every  community. 

First,  the  Social  Center  furnishes  the  place  for  com- 
munal "folk"  singing.  Dr.  Samuel  Crothers  said  of  the 
singing  in  one  of  the  centers  in  Rochester,  where  for 
half  an  hour  before  the  lectures  on  general  neighborhood 
evenings  everybody  sang:  "You  have  found  a  substitute 
for  war.  You  know  that  we  peace  fellows  have  all  the 
arguments  but  one ;  and  that  one  has  been  unanswerable. 
The  military  fellows  say  that  it  takes  a  war  to  make 
people  really  feel  together — to  know  a  common  interest, 
to  own  a  common  country.  And  how  do  they  prove  it? 
They  tell  us  that  from  '61  to  '65  we  were  a  singing 
nation,  and  that's  true.  Those  were  the  days  when 
we  learned  'Marching  Through  Georgia/  'Tenting  To- 
night/ 'Mine  Eyes  Have  Seen  the  Glory/  'Tramp, 
Tramp,  Tramp/  'When  Johnny  Comes  Marching 
Home/  We  learned  them  then  and  we  sang  them  then. 

228 


THE   MUSIC   CENTER  229 

Since  then  we've  just  been  warming  over  the  words.  I 
was  a  boy  in  those  days.  I  heard  it,  and  I  never  expected 
to  hear  that  note  again.  But  I  have  heard  it  again.  I 
have  heard  it  here  to-night.  You  sang  in  that  spirit. 
What  does  it  mean?  It  means  that  down  underneath 
you  have  been  gripped  by  that  same  throbbing  common 
reality,  not  hate  this  time,  nor  fear,  but  love.  You  know 
a  common  interest.  You  ou'n  a  common  country.  You've 
proved  it,  for  you've  sung  in  that  spirit.  You've  found 
what  the  military  fellows  say  we  can  never  get  without 
fighting.  You've  spoiled  the  only  argument  for  war." 

Second,  Mr.  Will  Earhart,  the  director,  not  only  of 
the  music  of  the  children,  but  of  all  the  people  gathered 
in  the  schoolhouses  in  Richmond,  Indiana,  has  shown 
choral  training  to  be  as  feasible  and  as  artistically  and 
socially  valuable  in  the  modern  city  as  it  was  in  the  simple 
pioneer  community. 

Third,  complete  social  center  development  necessitates 
orchestral  training  and  furnishes  the  means  by  which  the 
members  of  a  neighborhood  orchestra  may  pay  back  to 
the  community  in  musical  service  far  more  than  the  cost 
of  publicly  employing  a  director  and  purchasing  the  less 
commonly  used  orchestra  instruments.  Where  a  com- 
munity gathers  once  a  week  for  a  general  neighborhood 
evening  there  is  opportunity  for  the  service  of  a  neigh- 
borhood orchestra  in  furnishing  the  overture,  in  accom- 
panying the  singing  and  in  furnishing  the  music  for  the 
closing  social  hour. 

Fourth,  this  general  gathering  furnishes  constant 
stimulus  to  the  individual  by  offering  opportunity  for 
participation  in  the  community  entertainments. 

Professor  Arnold  Dresden,  who  has  aided  in  the  de- 
velopment of  community  musical  expression  in  Chicago 
and  Mad 'son,  writes: 
16 


230  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

Music  seems  to  many  of  us  a  form  of  culture  so  far 
removed  from  actualities  as  not  to  deserve  the  attention 
of  earnest  men  and  women  engaged  in  serious  /work. 
Indeed  it  must  be  granted  that  under  present  circum- 
stances, the  opportunity  for  musical  appreciation  and 
expression  is  so  restricted,  that  they  are  rapidly  becom- 
ing privileges  of  the  better-to-do,  at  least  if  we  are 
agreed  that  learning  to  play  an  instrument  or  buying  a 
piano  on  the  installment  plan  do  not  of  themselves  open 
up  such  opportunity. 

However,  no  one  who  is  earnestly  concerned  with 
social  betterment  can  afford  to  disregard  the  power  of 
music,  or  the  opportunities  for  hearing  and  creating 
music  which  our  communities  offer.  That  rhythm  and 
melody,  the  two  elements  which  with  harmony  form  the 
foundation  upon  which  music  rests,  lie  deep  in  our  human 
nature,  is  shown  for  instance  by  the  almost  instinctive 
use  of  whistles  or  call  signals;  by  the  short  calls  with 
which  men  who  are  pulling  a  heavy  load  and  want  to 
work  in  unison  precede  their  exertions  every  time.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  desire  for  tonal  stimulus  is  not  the 
least  of  the  influences  which  lead  the  city  boy  and  girl 
to  the  cheap  vaudeville  or  to  the  dance  hall. 

In  what  way  can  music  be  made  to  play  a  more  vital 
part  in  the  lives  of  our  people?  How  can  the  great 
power  be  made  socially  useful? 

Between  the  call  of  the  sailor  as  he  hoists  the  sails 
and  the  modern  symphony  lies  a  wide  field.  A  multi- 
tude of  forms  for  musical  expression  is  being  used  to-day 
to  sing  the  song  of  our  complex  life.  Gradually  musical 
forms  have  developed  until  now  they  seem  to  have  gone 
far  frqln  the  simple  directness  of  the  music  of  the  wind 
and  of  the  birds.  Its  interpretation  of  our  human  experi- 
ences has  become  hard  to  understand.  But  as  a  prophet 


THE  MUSIC   CENTER  231 

can  make  us  see  through  the  complexities  of  our  modern 
lives  and  feel  what  is  fundamental  in  our  existence,  so 
the  masters  of  musical  form  use  their  finer  tools  to  pen- 
etrate more  deeply  into  and  make  us  feel  more  keenly  the 
things  that  are  universal.  To  learn  to  follow  them,  there- 
fore, is  what  is  necessary  in  order  to  bridge  the  chasm 
which  now  exists  between  music  and  progress  towards 
mutual  understanding.  Much  training  is  necessary  to 
accomplish  this;  but  above  all,  opportunity  to  hear  and 
learn  to  understand  good  music  should  be  plentiful. 

There  is  hardly  a  village  in  Germany,  Austria,  France, 
or  any  of  the  other  countries  of  Western  Europe,  that 
has  not  its  municipal  orchestra  or  band.  The  Kaim 
orchestra,  which  for  many  years  has  been  the  municipal 
orchestra  of  Munich,  is  one  of  the  famous  orchestral 
organizations  of  Europe.  Choral  societies,  many  of 
them  of  excellent  quality,  are  numerous.  But,  more  than 
that ;  let  us  go  with  Richard  Wagner  *  to  "some  small 
village  on  a  winter  night  and  look  in  at  the  little  room; 
there  sit  a  father  and  his  three  sons  about  a  round  table ; 
two  of  the  boys  play  the  violin,  the  third  one  plays  the 
viola,  the  father  the  'cello;  what  you  hear  them  play 
with  such  understanding  and  so  full  of  emotion  is  a 
quartette,  composed  by  this  slender  short  man  who  is 
beating  time.  He  is  the  schoolmaster  of  the  neighbor- 
ing village,  and  the  quartette  that  he  has  composed  is 
full  of  art,  beautiful  and  deeply  felt." 

In  many  places  an  effort  is  being  made  to  bring  about 
more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  great  masters  of 
music.  Boston  has  had  a  department  of  music  in  its 
city  government  since  1898.  Besides  band  conceits  con- 
ducted under  its  auspices  in  different  parts  of  He  city, 

**  "GesAimelte  Schriften  und  Dichtungen,"  Vol.  I,  p.  152. 
^ 


232  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

during  the  summer,  that  department  arranges  concerts 
of  chamber  music  given  during  the  winter  in  the  audi- 
toriums of  the  schools.  New  York  has  been  furnishing 
a  great  deal  of  good  public  music  during  the  last  two 
years.  The  work  done  in  Rochester  is  well  known  and 
doubtless  many  other  cities  are  following  suit. 

The  results  arising  from  such  efforts  must  of  necessity 
be  comparatively  small,  because  it  can  bring  about  only 
a  very  superficial  contact  with  the  work  of  the  masters. 
We  must  build  up  musical  traditions  among  the  people 
of  this  country,  and  we  must  learn  to  know,  to  preserve 
and  to  cultivate  the  musical  talent  and  traditions  which 
so  many  of  our  immigrants  bring  to  us. 

I  shall  not  easily  forget  the  enthusiasm  aroused  in 
an  audience  at  one  of  the  centers  in  a  Bohemian 
neighborhood  in  Chicago  when  they  heard  some  of  their 
folk-songs  played  by  some  one  unknown  to  them,  or 
when  they  heard  sung,  in  their  own  language,  songs  com- 
posed by  the  Bohemian,  Dvorak. 

The  school  as  a  social  center  furnishes  an  excellent 
opportunity  for  systematic  work  of  this  kind.  It  has  the 
atmosphere  in  which  anything  that  tends  to  bring  out 
our  common  human  bonds  must  thrive.  It  brings  us 
in  contact  with  our  fellow-men  in  a  desire  for  mutual 
understanding  and  appreciation.  It  is  an  effort  to  find 
out  where  our  common  roots  lie,  so  necessary  in  these 
days,  when  there  is  so  much  to  promote  misunderstand- 
ing and  aloofness.  There,  then,  we  can  look  for  music 
to  make  its  power  felt.  Through  frequent  presentation 
of  the  simplest  works  at  first,  of  the  more  complex  ones 
later,  accompanied  by  explanatory  comment,  the  founda- 
tion for  an  appreciation  of  good  music  can  be  laid  and 
opportunity  for  self-expression  be  given  by  the  forma- 
tion of  choral  and  orchestral  clubs.  Instruction  in  the 


THE   MUSIC   CENTER  233 

playing  of  an  instrument  can  be  given  free,  as  is  being 
done  in  Rochester,  the  pupil  repaying  the  community 
later  on  in  assisting  in  the  public  concerts.  Where  good 
human  performers  are  not  available,  mechanical  per- 
formers could  be  used  to  advantage,  just  as  moving  pic- 
tures are  being  used  where  the  stage  is  out  of  reach. 
Under  appropriate  arrangements  between  different  social 
centers,  able  musicians  and  lecturers  on  music  can  be  en- 
gaged to  visit  the  centers  from  time  to  time  presenting, 
interpreting  and  explaining.  Thus  the  social  value  and 
importance  of  music  may  begin  to  make  itself  felt. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  FESTIVAL  CENTER 

"And  for  the  support  of  this  Declaration,  with  a  firm 
reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  We 
mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  Lives,  our  Fortune, 
and  our  Sacred  Honor." 

The  statement  announcing  the  birth  of  the  American 
Nation,  which  closed  with  these  words,  was  a  declara- 
tion of  common  interest,  of  interdependence.  The  men 
who  adopted  and  the  people  who  endorsed  this  declara- 
tion were,  for  the  first  time,  clearly  conscious  of  a  com- 
mon bond.  And  this  conscious  unity  was  the  essential 
fact  which  gave  meaning  to  the  statement  of  defiance 
embodied  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  declaration. 

A  true  commemoration  of  the  adoption  of  that  declara- 
tion, a  true  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July,  is  a  re- 
affirmation  of  this  principle  of  our  common  interest. 

We  can't  get  up  any  deep  enthusiasm  over  the  re- 
affirmation  of  the  statement  that  henceforth  we  are  go- 
ing to  be  independent  of  Great  Britain,  because,  for  one 
reason,  we  know  that  we  aren't.  That  we  should  not  be 
subordinate  to  Great  Britain,  we  take  as  a  matter  of 
course.  But  we  now  recognize  that  the  denial  of  a  false 
relation  is  not  the  final  adjustment.  We  are  more  or  less 
conscious  of  moving  on  to  the  next  step ;  that  is,  we  are 
ready  to  affirm  the  true  relation  between  the  United 

234 


THE    FESTIVAL   CENTER  235 

States  and  Great  Britain  and  all  other  nations — not  de- 
pendence, nor  independence,  but  interdependence. 

The  basic  all-inclusive  organization  of  the  community 
using  the  schoolhouse  as  the  social  center  furnishes  the 
means  and  the  place  most  appropriate  for  the  celebration 
of  both  the  civic  unity  within  the  neighborhood  and  the 
growing  friendliness  among  the  nations,  which  are  em- 
bodied in  the  national  festival. 

Not  only  is  the  community  organization  at  hand  for 
the  ideal  celebration  of  the  Fourth  of  July  where  demo- 
cratic social  center  development  has  been  begun,  but 
where  community  organization  has  not  been  established 
the  arrangement  for  a  "Sane  Fourth"  celebration  offers 
a  splendid  occasion  for  effecting  the  all-inclusive  gather- 
ing, which,  made  permanent,  is  the  basis  of  social  center 
development. 

In  addition  to  the  out-of-doors  activities,  the  pageant, 
the  games,  and  fireworks,  for  whose  preparation  the 
schoolhouses  afford  the  convenient  meeting  places,  this 
use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  the  center  of  festival  celebra- 
tion has  suggested  and  caused  to  be  realized  a  peculiarly 
appropriate  form  of  observing  the  National  Festival. 
This  is  the  civic  dinner  in  celebration  of  the  arrival  of 
youth  and  of  naturalized  immigrants  at  full  citizenship. 
This  "New  Citizens'  Birthday  Banquet"  was  first  cele- 
brated in  the  city  of  Rochester,  where  its  suggestion, 
coming  simultaneously  from  several  sources,  seemed  to 
be  a  spontaneous  expression  of  the  social  center  idea. 
The  new  citizens,  those  who  had  come  into  the  right 
to  vote  during  the  preceding  twelve  months,  were  the 
guests.  The  older  citizens  who  attended  acted  as  hosts 
by  each  paying  for  a  plate  for  one  of  the  guests,  as  well 
as  for  his  own.  The  addresses  began  with  the  Welcome 
of  the  City,  given  by  the  mayor  or  his  representative, 


236  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

followed  by  a  response  from  one  of  the  new  citizens. 
This  "Welcome  Feast"  may  be  held  at  another  time  than 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  as  it  has  been  at  Superior,  Wis- 
consin, but  it  seems  especially  appropriate  to  the  Fourth. 
More  has  been  done  with  the  organized  celebration 
of  the  "National  Festival"  than  with  that  of  any  other 
holiday,  but  there  is  scarcely  a  holiday  in  the  calendar 
which  is  not  capable  of  beautiful  and  beneficial  observa- 
tion when  once  a  community  has  secured  in  the  school- 
house  the  place  and  in  the  engagement  of  a  neighborhood 
secretary  the  personal  leadership  service  for  its  self-ex- 
pression, and  for  nearly  all  the  holidays  their  celebration 
in  and  through  the  social  center  tends  to  bring  forth, 
not  only  new  dramatic  forms,  but  deeper  significance. 
Thus,  it  was  only  with  the  beginning  of  the  community 
celebration  of  Hallowe'en  in  Milwaukee  that  the  signifi- 
cance of  that  day  of  gathering  of  good  and  bad  and  all 
souls,  the  living  and  the  dead,  came  forth  with  its  appeal 
to  the  widening  of  sympathies.  In  a  Jewish  neighbor- 
hood the  social  center  celebration  of  Christmas  in  its 
original  significance,  as  the  time  when  the  sun  starts  back 
with  its  promise  of  summer  in  the  midst  of  the  cold, 
made  of  that  day  for  the  cosmopolitan  neighborhood  a 
time  of  quite  universal  peace  and  good  will :  so,  the  cele- 
bration of  the  beginning  times  of  the  New  Year  and  the 
celebration  of  the  spring  at  Easter  time.  The  social  cen- 
ter also  offers  the  ideal  opportunity  for  the  celebration 
of  the  birthdays  of  Washington  and  Lincoln.  For  in- 
stance, the  fact  that  Garibaldi  was  born  on  the  anniver- 
sary of  Washington's  birth  suggested  a  joint  celebration 
by  the  Italian  and  the  native  born  citizens  in  a  social 
center,  in  which  the  Italians  presented  an  American  flag 
to  hang  on  the  walls  of  the  schoolhouse  and  the  Ameri- 
cans presented  an  Italian  flag  to  hang  with  it,  the  two 


THE   FESTIVAL   CENTER  237 

flags  crossed,  to  serve  as  a  token  of  better  racial  under- 
standing within  the  neighborhood.  Then,  too,  social  cen- 
ter organization  tends  to  make  of  occasions  not  usually 
recognized  as  community  festal,  times  of  reunion.  For 
instance,  in  the  town  of  Fairchild,  Wisconsin,  the  com- 
mencement of  the  high  school  was  made  a  town  cele- 
bration, all  the  people,  as  well  as  the  graduating  class, 
adopting  the  motto,  "Life  Is  Now  Our  School." 

The  intimate  relation  between  the  use  of  the  school- 
house  as  a  center  of  musical  expression  and  training  and 
its  use  as  a  center  of  festival  celebration  is  obvious.  The 
convenience  of  its  use  for  neighborhood  festivals,  which, 
of  course,  should  include  musical  expression,  is  here  set 
forth  by  Mr.  E.  S.  Martin,  Chairman  of  the  Festival 
Committee  of  the  Playground  and  Recreation  Association 
of  America: 

The  problem  of  celebrating  our  national  holidays  in 
a  rational  manner  is  one  that  merits  serious  considera- 
tion and  careful  thought.  There  are  several  days  out 
of  each  year  which  are  recognized  all  over  the  United 
States  as  being  occasions  for  special  festivals,  though 
not  all  of  them  are  named  by  the  statutes  as  legal 
holidays. 

They  are  New  Year's  Day,  Washington's  Birthday, 
Arbor  Day,  May  Day,  Memorial  Day,  Flag  Day,  the 
Fourth  of  July,  Labor  Day,  Columbus  Day,  Hallowe'en, 
Thanksgiving  and  Christmas.  The  celebrations  that  take 
place  on  these  days  may  be  of  national  importance  in 
the  sense  that  they  are  nation-wide,  but  are  they  of 
national  importance  in  the  sense  that  they  contribute 
directly  to  the  development  of  the  nation?  Has  the  day 
set  aside  by  the  state  to  commemorate  some  great  event 
accomplished  the  fullness  of  its  mission  when  it  occasions 


238  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  meeting  of  groups  of  people  for  an  idle  jollification, 
or  even  when  it  inspires  the  preparation  of  a  scholarly 
paper  or  the  delivery  of  a  learned  lecture  on  the  dead 
event?  Surely  the  fact  that  a  nation  has  set  aside  an 
entire  day  to  be  observed  by  the  people  as  they  will, 
ought  to  mean  more  to  society  than  this. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Republic  when  the  population 
was  predominantly  rural  and  fairly  homogeneous  in 
respect  to  race,  religion  and  tradition,  the  festival  served 
to  bring  people  together  and  produce  a  spirit  of  geniality 
and  good  feeling  that  did  much  to  wipe  out  past  dif- 
ferences and  unify  public  opinion.  To-day  a  very  much 
changed  condition  of  affairs  confronts  us ;  practically 
every  race,  nationality  and  religion  in  the  world  is  repre- 
sented in  the  American  Republic,  with  the  result  that 
class  distinction  has  been  raised  up,  which  was  unknown 
at  the  dawn  of  our  national  history.  The  fact  that 
the  festivals  are  observed  by  each  social  class  in  its  own 
peculiar  way  tends  to  fix  the  lines  of  social  cleavage  by 
strengthening  the  class  consciousness ;  and  anything  that 
tends  to  the  establishment  of  rigid  class  lines  shakes 
the  foundations  of  democracy. 

In  a  country  where  the  elements  of  the  population 
are  as  heterogeneous  as  they  are  in  the  United  States 
it  may  be  expected  that  class  barriers  will  tend  to  be- 
come more  and  more  marked  unless  counteractive  agen- 
cies are  set  to  work  to  dissolve  them. 

In  the  school  social  center  we  have  just  such  an 
agency;  and  the  arguments  that  justify  the  expansion 
of  public  activities  in  recreation  and  education  apply 
with  special  force  to  the  utilization  of  public  school  prop- 
erty in  the  celebration  of  national  holidays.  The  tax- 
payer is  beginning  to  realize  that  he  is  not  getting  full 
returns  for  money  invested  when  he  permits  school  build- 


THE   FESTIVAL   CENTER  239 

ings  to  deteriorate  with  the  year  while  standing  unused 
the  greater  part  of  the  time.  With  the  school  buildings 
open  on  holidays,  when  many  stores  and  factories  are 
closed,  an  excellent  opportunity  is  presented  to  bring 
people  together  in  the  practice  of  democracy  so  that  a 
realization  of  the  fact  of  common  proprietorship  opens 
the  way  for  further  common  activities.  In  this  way  it 
is  possible  to  school  the  people  in  the  practice  of  de- 
mocracy so  that  a  welding  of  the  various  elements  re- 
sults and  a  solidarity  is  given  to  the  social  body  which 
it  would  be  impossible  otherwise  to  accomplish. 

The  taxpayer  is  usually  a  part  of  the  separate  organi- 
zation attempting  to  celebrate  some  festal  occasion  which 
it  believes  should  receive  recognition,  therefore  it  is 
advisable  that  the  school  building  should  be  utilized, 
first  in  the  preparation  of  the  neighborhood  for  the 
particular  celebration,  and  second,  as  a  place  to  carry 
out  the  program  when  deemed  advisable.  Such  a  use 
made  of  the  school  plant  would  bring  all  social  classes 
closer  together.  At  present  New  Year's  Day  is  com- 
paratively little  celebrated.  Washington's  and  Lincoln's 
Birthdays  are  celebrated  in  our  public  schools  if  the 
authorities  permit.  Arbor  Day  should  be  utilized  to 
teach,  not  only  children,  but  adults,  the  great  lessons  of 
nature  that  they  may  be  applied  in  every-day  life.  One 
might  refer  to  May  Day  and  its  great  possibilities, 
Memorial  Day,  the  day  of  commemoration,  Flag  Day 
and  Independence  Day,  the  preparation  for  which  may 
be  coordinated.  Here  is  a  rich  field  for  the  utilization 
of  the  school  plant,  not  only  during  its  idle  hours,  but 
during  its  active  hours  as  well. 

As  chairman  of  the  committee  on  festivals  of  the 
National  Playground  Association,  I  found  one  of  the 
problems  of  many  cities  to  be  "How  shall  we  bridge 


240  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  gap  between  the  close  of  school  and  July  Fourth." 
The  use  of  the  school  plant  with  leaders  from  the  neigh- 
borhoods keeping  the  children  interested  and  rehearsing 
after  the  close  of  the  school  season  will  bridge  the  gap. 
Similarly  in  connection  with  Labor  Day,  a  day  which 
should  be  utilized  to  cement  labor  and  employer  rather 
than  for  demonstrations  against  either  as  is  sometimes 
the  case,  the  school  plant  should  be  used  in  connection 
with  playgrounds  and  civic  organizations  to  plan 
an  acceptable  program  for  this  great  occasion  so  vital  to 
our  commercial  future. 

Columbus  Day  and  Thanksgiving  as  well  as  many  others 
might  be  made  of  vital  importance  by  a  more  thorough 
preparation  participated  in  by  all  working  in  the  common 
center,  the  public  school  plant.  Hallowe'en  might  be 
made  constructive  as  a  festival  instead  of  destructive  as  it 
is  to-day,  if  the  school  building  were  opened  for  directed 
activities  suitable  for  the  boys  and  girls  to  give  vent 
to  the  feelings  which  the  day  suggests,  and  then  these 
feelings  should  be  directed  accordingly.  I  deplore  legis- 
lation prohibiting  an  undesirable  action  on  the  part  of 
our  youth  without  providing  a  substitute.  These  are 
but  a  few  of  the  ways  to  which  our  school  buildings 
may  be  utilized,  always,  however,  under  careful  super- 
vision and  regulation. 

My  belief  that  almost  every  governing  body  to-day 
will  grant  the  use  of  the  school  plant  for  the  many 
admirable  uses  to  which  it  may  be  put  if  they  are  assured 
of  proper  supervision,  and  by  proper  supervision  I  mean 
not  only  as  to  plant  but  supervision  which  presupposes 
an  understanding  in  this  case  of  what  a  proper  celebra- 
tion of  these  festal  occasions  will  mean  to  the  future 
citizenship  of  the  community,  as  well  as  ability  to  carry 
them  to  a  successful  climax  on  the  day  to  be  celebrated. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  MOTION   PICTURE  THEATER 

At  one  of  the  joint  sessions  of  the  Wisconsin  Legis- 
lature of  1910-1911  was  given,  through  the  cooperation 
of  John  Collier,  the  Educational  Secretary  of  the  Na- 
tional Board  of  Censorship  of  Motion  Picture  Films,  and 
of  the  General  Film  Company,  with  the  University  Ex- 
tension Division,  a  demonstration  of  the  possibilities  of 
the  motion  picture  as  supplementary  educational  equip- 
ment and  as  a  social  magnet  in  the  public  schools.  Fol- 
lowing this  demonstration,  the  University  Extension 
Division  equipped  itself  with  a  standard  machine  and, 
cooperating  with  the  state  anti-tuberculosis  association, 
secured  a  supply  of  films  sufficient  to  show  the  feasibility 
of  this  extension  of  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse.  As  a 
result  of  the  favorable  comment  of  men  and  women  in 
all  parts  of  the  state  upon  this  enterprise,  the  Dean  of 
the  Extension  Division  has  recommended  an  appropria- 
tion by  the  next  legislature  sufficient  to  establish  a  state 
library  of  motion  picture  films.  The  fact  that  many 
schoolhouses  are  now  equipped  with  machines  promises 
that  in  at  least  one  state  the  plans  which  Mr.  Collier  sets 
forth  in  the  following  comprehensive  paper  may  soon 
begin  to  be  realized : 

Students  of  social  welfare  began  to  awake,  two  or  three 
years  ago,  to  the  fact  that  a  new  influence  is  at  work 

241 


242  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

among  the  children  throughout  the  cities  and  towns  of 
America.  This  influence  is  the  motion  picture  show. 

The  motion  picture  is  a  labor  saving  device  and  is 
accomplishing  in  the  theatrical  field  a  revolution  such  as 
labor  saving  machinery  has  accomplished  in  other  fields 
before  now.  It  has  cheapened  the  amusement  commodity, 
thrown  many  people  temporarily  out  of  work,  called  into 
existence  many  whole  trades  which  are  contributive  to 
the  manufacture  and  use  of  motion  pictures,  and  length- 
ened the  reach  of  dramatic  art  in  many  directions. 

Sociologically,  the  motion  picture  has  thus  far  laid  two 
great  claims  on  attention.  First,  it  has  turned  the  Amer- 
ican masses  into  theatergoers  and  has  carried  the  rich- 
ness and  stimulation  of  the  theater  into  millions  of  lives 
not  hitherto  touched  by  the  dramatic  appeal.  Second, 
the  repertory  of  the  motion  picture  is  so  varied  and  the 
language  it  speaks  is  so  universal,  that  it  has  appealed  all 
along  the  range  of  social  classes  and  to  old  and  young 
alike  in  the  family.  From  the  beginning,  the  motion 
picture  show  has  been  preeminently  a  democratic  theater 
and  largely  a  family  theater. 

A  few  statistics  gathered  by  the  National  Board  of 
Censorship  will  illustrate  these  propositions.  There  are 
about  10,000  motion  picture  shows  in  the  United  States, 
charging  five  and  ten  cents  for  admission.  The  daily 
audience  throughout  the  year  is  not  less  than  4,000,000, 
and  of  this  number  probably  400,000  are  children  of  school 
age.  In  certain  congested  districts  of  New  York  a  census 
roughly  taken  two  years  ago  indicated  that  in  different 
schools  from  fifty  to  eighty  per  cent  of  the  children  at- 
tended motion  picture  shows  at  least  once  a  week.  The 
estimated  attendance  on  all  American  theaters  other  than 
moving  picture  shows  is  750,000  a  day,  and  the  propor- 
tion of  children  is  comparatively  small. 


THE  MOTION   PICTURE  THEATER          243 

We  are  considering  the  motion  picture  as  an  aid  in 
the  school,  but  we  can  best  introduce  our  subject  by  re- 
marks on  the  purely  commercial  picture  theater,  as  it  can 
be  observed  in  any  American  city  or  town.  Educational 
themes  and  even  specific  pedagogy  have  never  been  absent 
from  the  motion  picture  theater.  Between  April,  1909, 
and  April,  1910,  the  board  of  censorship  inspected  about 
3,000  reels  of  pictures.  (A  reel  is  1,000  feet  of  film  and 
provides  a  fifteen-minute  show.)  About  400  of  these  reels 
were  classified  by  the  board  as  educational.  The  educa- 
tional repertory  of  motion  pictures,  as  seen  in  American 
shows,  covers  very  extensively  the  picturesque  side  of 
geography;  many  of  the  more  spectacular  modern  in- 
dustries, such  as  steel-making  and  mining ;  authentic  his- 
torical episodes;  agriculture,  systematic  play;  and  the 
physical  sciences.  In  the  last  category,  American 
audiences  have  recently  seen  several  examples  of  micro- 
scopic motion  photography  exhibiting  chemical  action,  the^ 
growth  of  plants,  and  bacterial  process.  The  anti-tuber-  / 
culosis,  pure  milk,  anti-typhoid,  and  similar  propagandas,  I 
have  been  dramatized  in  motion  pictures,  in  some  cases) 
with  perfect  scientific  accuracy,  and  these  pictures  have 
gone  through  the  channels  of  the  regular  show-house  to 
upward  of  10,000,000  people  in  America.  Already,  the^ 
school  which  was  ready  to  use  motion  pictures  would  find 
several  hundred  subjects  available  in  this  country,  and, 
by  going  to  Europe,  could  select  from  a  profuse  library 
of  strictly  educational  subjects  not  yet  exported  to 
America. 

The  topic  of  the  school  as  a  motion  picture  theater 
falls  under  three  titles :  motion  pictures  in  the  school 
curriculum;  motion  pictures  in  school  extension  and 
social  center  work;  motion  pictures  in  the  school 
budget. 


244  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

i.    Motion  Pictures  in  the  School  Curriculum 

The  motion  picture  is  valuable  in  pedagogy  because  it 
is  graphic  and  because  it  is  dramatic.  The  text-book 
illustration  and  the  stereopticon  found  in  most  schools 
are  graphic;  they  give  body  and  actuality  to  practically 
all  the  subject  matter  of  teaching,  with  the  exception  of 
pure  mathematics.  The  motion  picture  does  the  same, 
and  improves  on  the  stereopticon  at  every  point,  even 
in  its  effects  of  artistic  coloring.  In  addition,  the  mo- 
tion picture  provides  a  complete,  an  illusive  representa- 
tion, which  can  glide  without  pause  over  every  facet  of 
any  subject  it  deals  with,  and  can  reproduce  any  move- 
ment between  the  vibration  of  a  microscopic  organism 
and  the  transit  of  a  heavenly  body.  No  human  eye  has 
ever  seen  the  process  of  cell  division  in  biology,  for 
the  inner  mechanism  of  cell  division  is  made  visible  only 
by  the  killing  and  staining  of  the  cell.  In  motion  pic- 
tures, the  slides  of  minute  successive  stages  in  such  a 
biological  process  may  be  assembled,  and  a  complete  re- 
production may  be  thrown,  greatly  magnified,  upon  the 
screen.  Similarly,  the  growth  of  a  plant  from  seed  to 
harvest  is  shown  in  ten  minutes  on  the  screen,  not  with 
gaps  and  pauses,  but  in  a  continuous  process,  which  is 
accurate  to  a  microscopic  degree.  The  almost  infinitely 
swift  motion  of  an  insect's  wing  has  been  dissected 
through  photographs  taken  at  the  rate  of  two  thousand 
a  second.  Once  made,  the  pictures  may  be  projected  at 
any  desired  speed.  In  all  such  motion  photography  an 
actual  color  reproduction  is  now  possible.  So  much  for 
the  graphical  side  of  motion  pictures. 

In  pedagogy,  the  dramatic  quality  of  motion  pictures 
is  perhaps  more  important  than  their  merely  graphic 
quality.  Is  not  the  dramatic  element  too  little  provided 


THE  MOTION   PICTURE  THEATER          245 

in  our  customary  school  curriculum  and  method  of  teach- 
ing? J  Drama  is  that  form  of  art  which  deals  with  the 
human  will,  |  and  is,  therefore,  the  most  important  form 
of  art,  whether  .to  the  theologian,  the  militarist,  or  the 
teacher.  The  word  "dramatic"  is  here  used,  not  merely 
to  describe  conscious  and  histrionic  representation,  but 
to  recall  the  psychological  law  by  which  motor  response 
follows  on  stimulation.  Drama,  whose  method  is  the 
method  of  struggle,  is  peculiarly  a  motor  form  of  art. 
It  directly  suggests  and  compels  action,  desire,  and  the 
use  of  the  will,  whereas  such  art  as  decorative  art,  or 
any  stimulation  of  a  purely  intellectual  kind,  issues  only 
remotely  and  indirectly  in  action.  Too  much  abstraction 
in  the  teaching  method  is  likely  to  result,  at  least  with 
the  child,  in  a  weakened  capacity  for  action. 

A  motion  picture  dealing  with  first  aid  to  the  injured, 
or  with  an  historical  episode  artfully  handled,  or  with 
the  activities  of  a  model  commercial  house,  shown  be- 
fore a  class  in  commerce,  does  more  than  merely  arouse 
interest;  it  impels  the  pupil  to  action,  along  definite  and 
predetermined  lines.  This  proposition,  even  without  the 
help  of  technical  psychology,  is  evident  to  common  sense, 
and  has  been  recognized  by  the  child-protective  agencies 
throughout  the  country  in  their  protest  against  what 
they  call  the  "suggestive  tendency"  of  motion  pictures 
in  the  picture  theaters. 

It  is  clear  that  the  motion  picture  can  be  used  as  a 
time-saving,  stimulating,  and  directing  agency  in  the 
school  curriculum.  It  must  also  be  said  that  the  motion 
picture  will  bring  a  peril  with  it.  I  have  suggested  that 
in  our  present  school  curriculum,  memory  work,  imita- 
tion, and  purely  ideal  presentation  play  too  large  a 
part.  Merely  to  graft  motion  pictures  into  a  curriculum 
which  did  not  invite  and  require  an  abundance  of  action 
17 


246  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

— coordinated,  team-work  action — on  the  part  of  the 
pupil,  would  have  no  result  other  than  stimulating  the 
pupil  and  rousing  an  active  disposition  for  which  the 
curriculum  itself  would  provide  no  expression.  The 
outcome  would  be  nervousness,  mischief,  and  a  definite 
weakening  of  the  will.  In  other  words,  motion  pictures, 
viewed  as  a  dramatic  art,  can  be  recommended  to  any 
school  only  in  such  measure  as  that  school  is  ready  to 
make  use  of  the  new-old  pedagogical  principles  of  edu- 
cation through  action.  I  believe  that  the  principles  here 
laid  down  are  orthodox,  but  space  does  not  allow  their 
more  thorough  treatment. 

A  word  should  be  said  with  regard  to  the  effect  of 
motion  pictures  on  the  eye.  The  eye-strain  of  the  school 
child  is  already  severe,  and  any  increase  of  eye-strain 
should  be  carefully  questioned,  no  matter  what  the  edu- 
cational advantage  may  be.  In  brief,  motion  pictures 
need  not  lay  any  especial  strain  on  the  normal  eye.  The 
eye-strain  incidental  to  motion  pictures  is  generally  due 
first,  to  the  intense  white  glare  which  accompanies  their 
display,  and  second,  to  the  oscillation  of  the  pictures  on 
the  screen.  A  very  slight  variation  in  the  sequence  of 
pictures  on  the  film,  due,  perhaps,  to  the  vibration  of 
the  camera  which  made  the  original  negative,  or  a  very 
slight  vibration  of  the  projecting  machine,  will  appear 
as  an  exaggerated  oscillation  in  the  magnified  picture 
that  is  thrown  on  the  screen.  In  other  words,  to  pre- 
vent oscillation  a  picture  must  be  well  made  and  care- 
fully projected.  In  addition,  eye-strain  is  caused  by  the 
flicker  of  motion  pictures,  seen  when  the  pictures  suc- 
ceed each  other  at  a  slower  rate  than  about  fifteen  per 
second.  This  flicker  is  never  necessary,  and  the  imper- 
fect focusing  of  the  picture,  and  the  presence  of  blurs 
and  tears,  is  never  excusable. 


THE  MOTION   PICTURE  THEATER          247 

The  important  eye-strain  of  motion  pictures,  however, 
is  due  simply  to  the  prolonged  focusing  of  the  eye  on 
the  white  screen.  The  eye  is  dazzled,  and  is  prevented 
from  getting  that  rest  which,  amid  the  ordinary  sur- 
roundings of  nature,  it  constantly  secures  through  wan- 
dering over  the  gradations  of  light,  shadow,  and  color. 
This  primary  form  of  motion  picture  eye-strain  can  be 
minimized  in  two  ways:  (i)  The  picture,  if  an  ordinary 
black-and-white  picture,  should  not  be  projected  in  com- 
plete darkness,  but  in  an  auditorium  illuminated  by  a 
diffused  light,  almost  or  quite  sufficient  to  read  by.  This 
diffused  light  can  be  secured  through  the  simple  process 
of  screening  the  lighting  apparatus,  so  that  its  rays  will 
not  strike  directly  upon  the  eyes  of  the  audience  or 
directly  upon  the  screen.  Under  these  conditions  one 
may  secure  a  perfect  motion  picture  and  avoid  the  dazzle 
which  is  due  to  the  acuteness  of  contrast  between  the 
calcium-white  screen  and  the  surrounding  darkness.  (2) 
More  important  from  the  standpoint  of  eye-strain,  and 
equally  from  the  standpoint  of  art,  is  the  use  of  color 
process  in  motion  pictures.  Color  softens  the  glare, 
greatly  diminishes  any  flicker,  and  gives  to  the  eye  all 
the  relief  and  contrast  it  needs.  Colored  motion  pictures 
may  be  obtained  through  the  use  of  tinted  glass  slides, 
manipulated  by  the  operator  while  he  is  throwing  his 
picture.  Likewise,  the  film  itself  may  be  tinted.  The 
best  French  and  Italian  manufacturers  of  motion  pic- 
tures use  an  actual  lithographing  process,  with  exquisite 
results,  and  this  process  may  be  seen  in  almost  any  of 
the  regular  motion  picture  shows  throughout  America. 
Finally,  color  photography  has  now  been  applied  and 
commercialized  in  motion  pictures.  This  last  process 
is  known  as  kinemacolor,  and  its  exploitation  in  America 
is  about  to  begin, 


248  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

To  sum  up  the  question  of  eye-strain,  motion  pictures 
do  undeniably  injure  the  eye,  except  under  conditions  of 
the  careful  selection  of  films  and  of  inventive  diligence 
in  their  exhibition. 

2.     Motion  Pictures  in  School  Extension  and  Social 
Center  Work 

Viewing  the  school  in  the  aspect  advocated  in  this 
volume,  the  value  of  motion  pictures  is  assured  and 
large.  They  appeal  to  the  interests  of  the  whole 
family,  and  they  combine  amusement  with  education, 
and,  furthermore,  they  can  be  made  to  vitally  com- 
bine civics  with  amusement.  A  recent  film  dealing  with 
the  milk  industry,  produced  under  scientific  advice  by  a 
New  York  film  company,  illustrates  the  use  of  motion 
pictures  in  the  dramatization  and  illumination  of  a  civic 
problem.  This  picture,  like  other  pictures  dealing  with 
the  fresh-air  evangelism,  with  many  forms  of  sanitation, 
with  folk  dancing,  the  career  of  the  immigrant,  etc., 
etc.,  has  gone  out  as  purely  an  amusement  commodity  to 
the  thousands  of  theaters  in  America. 

Social  workers  have  noted  how  the  motion  picture 
show  attracts  classes  of  people  who  do  not  go  to  the 
evening  lecture  center,  the  church,  or  the  settlement. 
These  people  pay  for  admission,  they  come  habitually, 
and  they  live  more  intensely  and  far  more  broadly  dur- 
ing the  motion-picture  hour  than  during  any  other  mo- 
ment of  their  day.  The  motion-picture  show  has  come 
to  be  recognized  as  a  folk-institution,  and  it  has  seemed 
that  commerce  has  gotten  the  better  of  philanthropy  and 
of  municipal  good-will  in  this  problem  of  helping  the 
wage-earning  millions  to  use  their  leisure  time  con- 
structively and  pleasurably.  Has  not  the  time  now  come- 
when  the  school,  endowed  with  a  conscious  public  zeal 


THE  MOTION  PICTURE  THEATER         249 

which  the  commercial  show-house  cannot  possess,  may 
be  justly  expected  to  equip  itself  with  that  powerful 
magnet  which  has  given  to  the  commercial  show  its  great 
advantage  ? 

j.     Motion  Pictures  in  the  School  Budget 

As  yet,  in  America,  neither  the  demand  nor  the  supply 
for  educational  motion  pictures  has  been  effectively  or- 
ganized. Owing  to  this  fact,  motion  pictures  are  as  yet 
an  expensive  innovation  for  any  school,  and  a  relatively 
unsatisfactory  innovation.  This  can  best  be  made  clear 
by  a  description  of  the  methods  through  which  the  com- 
mercial show-houses  obtain  their  pictures. 

A  picture  film,  when  completed  at  the  factory,  is  sold 
to  the  "exchange"  at  an  average  price  of  $100  per  1,000 
feet  of  film.  It  is  then  rented  by  the  day  or  by  the  week 
to  the  exhibitor.  A  motion  picture,  if  carefully  han- 
dled, can  be  run  about  500  times  through  the  machine 
before  it  begins  to  deteriorate.  The  average  exhibitor 
repeats  his  program  perhaps  five  times  each  day,  so 
that  the  film  is  good  for  about  fifty  days'  service,  and, 
in  practice,  to  the  detriment  of  eyesight,  is  used  much 
longer  than  fifty  days.  The  rental  price  is  determined 
by  these  considerations. 

Under  present  conditions,  all  the  exchanges  in  this 
country  are  organized  to  meet  solely  the  demand  of  the 
commercial  picture  shows,  whose  managers  use  but  little 
thought  in  selecting  their  programs,  and,  in  fact,  are 
generally  content  with  what  the  "exchange"  hands  out 
to  them  day  by  day.  The  "exchange"  uses  to  the  full, 
at  show-house  prices,  every  film  it  buys,  including  every 
educational  film.  Because  the  films  are  going  to  be 
used  repeatedly  each  day  in  the  show-houses,  the  ex- 
change demands  a  relatively  high  rental  for  them.  If 


250  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  film  were  going  to  be  used  only  once  or  twice  a  day, 
as  would  be  the  case  in  a  school,  the  daily  rental 
price  would  be  less  and  the  film  would  remain  for  a 
longer  time  in  serviceable  condition.  The  exchange, 
however,  prefers  to  handle  the  commercial  show-house 
business,  where  a  film  is  worked  to  the  limit  and  the 
returns  are  swift.  As  a  net  result,  the  educational  insti- 
tution which  wishes  to  draw  on  the  supply  of  educa- 
tional films  of  a  regular  exchange  has  to  pay  show-house 
prices,  and  has  to  fight  continually  for  the  privilege  of 
selecting  its  own  pictures.  Such  conditions,  as  a  rule, 
effectively  discourage  the  school  from  attempting  the 
use  of  motion  pictures  at  all. 

One  of  two  measures  is  necessary,  if  motion  pictures 
are  to  be  generally  used  in  the  schools.  First,  an  edu- 
cational film  exchange  might  be  established,  dealing  ex- 
clusively with  educational  institutions  and  adapting  its 
methods  to  their  peculiar  needs.  Such  an  exchange 
would  be  a  success  on  purely  business  principles.  Sec- 
ond, a  sufficiently  large  system  of  schools,  or  any  group 
of  institutions  willing  to  cooperate  with  each  other, 
could  purchase  their  films  outright,  and  use  them  in  ro- 
tation, thus  gradually  building  up  a  permanent  library 
of  motion  pictures.  Undoubtedly,  both  of  these  methods 
will  be  applied  in  the  near  future. 

The  rental  cost  of  an  educational  film,  under  existing 
conditions,  ranges  from  one  dollar  to  eight  dollars  a 
day,  and,  as  I  have  said,  the  service  is  unsatisfactory. 
When  once  the  educational  demand  and  supply  become 
organized,  films  will  cost  from  fifty  cents  to  two  dollars 
a  day,  and  the  service  will  be  satisfactory.  Motion  pic- 
ture machines  can  be  purchased  at  prices  ranging  from 
$125  to  $250.  The  expense  of  light  is  negligible  where 
electricity  is  used,  but  where  oxyhydric  gas  is  used  the 


THE   MOTION    PICTURE   THEATER         251 

fuel  costs  nearly  a  dollar  an  hour.  The  salary  of  an 
operator  is  about  $15  a  week,  but  any  intelligent  man 
can  be  trained  to  handle  the  motion  picture  machine, 
and  in  the  school  use  of  motion  pictures  special  arrange- 
ments would  be  made. 

With  regard  to  motion  pictures  in  the  school  budget, 
I  throw  out  this  final  suggestion :  That  the  state  educa- 
tional authorities,  or  any  similar  body  in  a  given  region 
of  the  country,  could  establish  a  self-supporting  and 
self-extending  motion-picture  library,  which  would  not 
only  make  possible  every  use  of  motion  pictures  by  the 
schools,  but  would  exert  a  stimulating  influence  on  every 
show-house  in  the  region. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE   RECREATION    CENTER 

The  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  the  recreation  center  is 
to  its  use  as  the  political  headquarters  of  the  deliberative 
organization  of  the  voters  of  the  district  as  the  flesh  is 
to  the  skeleton  of  a  body.  Without  the  skeleton  the  body 
would  be  a  flabby  thing.  It  might  be  held  erect,  but  only 
by  being  propped  up,  suspended,  uplifted  from  outside. 
The  school  recreation  center,  which  has  no  basis  in  the 
community's  political  self-organization  for  self-expres- 
sion, is  necessarily  a  paternal,  an  uplift,  institution, 
whether  used  by  adults  or  children  or  both.  As  such 
it  is  essentially  not  a  positively  moral  institution.  In 
view  of  the  fact  that  one  of  the  great  motives  for  open- 
ing the  schoolhouses  to  wider  use  is  the  desire  to  sup- 
plant immoral  dissipation  by  moral  recreation,  it  is  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  point  out  the  truth  that,  with- 
out a  basis  in  self-government,  there  is  no  positive  moral 
training  in  the  recreational  use  of  the  schoolhouse.  It 
is  obviously  better  that  people  spend  their  leisure  under 
the  enforcement  of  rules  of  conduct  by  men  appointed 
by  the  school  board  in  the  schoolhouse  than  under  the 
supervision  of  men  appointed'  by  the  police  department 
in  the  usual  pool  room  or  commercial  dance  hall.  There 
are  many  reasons  why  it  is  better.  It  is  very  much 
cheaper  for  one  thing;  there  is  no  motive  for  promoting 
the  sale  of  cigarettes  or  liquor  or  the  rental  of  debauch- 

252 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  253 

ing  rooms  in  connection  with  the  gatherings,  for  an- 
other ;  and  the  men  appointed  by  the  school  board  to  do 
police  duty  have  the  good  taste  to  take  their  hats  off  in- 
side the  building  for  a  third.  But,  while  the  schoolhouse 
used  as  merely  a  recreation  center  is  not  immoral,  as  the 
privately  run  pleasure  resort  is  likely  to  be,  neither  is  it 
positively  moral.  It  is  a  negatively  good  institution.  In 
order  to  be  positively  good,  in  order  to  be  constructively 
moral,  it  must  be  democratic,  for  positive  moral  develop- 
ment comes  only  with  .^//-expression  under  self- 
restraint,  that  is,  with  democracy. 

The  distinction  between  the  merely  recreational  use  of 
the  schoolhouse,  which  is  analogous  to  the  Roman  circus, 
and  the  fundamentally  civic  use  of  the  building,  analo- 
gous to  the  Roman  forum,  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter 
VIII.  But  it  is  emphasized  in  this  connection,  because, 
next  to  the  confusion  of  social  "center,"  which  is  always 
a  public  institution,  with  social  "settlement,"  which  is 
always  a  private  institution,  the  confusion  of  "social" 
center  with  "recreation"  center  is  perhaps  both  most  com- 
mon and  most  harmful.  Of  course,  in  America,  where 
the  basic  essential  of  society  is  its  democratic  sovereignty, 
the  term  "social"  center  is  properly  used  only  of  an  in- 
stitution built  upon  a  foundation  of  democratic  expres- 
sion. The  social  center  of  any  community  is  the  place 
where  the  members  of  that  community  have  their  head- 
quarters of  expression  as  a  single,  all-inclusive,  organ- 
ized society.  As  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  I,  the  poll- 
ing place  is  the  center,  and  all  the  center  there  is  in  most 
communities.  When  the  schoolhouse  is  made  the  head- 
quarters of  the  community  organization,  either  for  vot- 
ing or  for  deliberation,  or  both,  then,  and  only  then, 
does  it  become  the  social  center.  It  may  then  be  used 
by  the  society,  whose  headquarters  it  is,  as  also  a  place 


254  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  recreation,  of  art  exhibition,  of  information  dissemi- 
nation, and  so  on.  These  functions  and  activities  may 
or  may  not  be  included  in  the  meaning  of  the  term  in 
any  particular  case,  but  they  are  not  fundamental.  A 
home  may  include  a  library  and  an  art  gallery  and  a  bil- 
liard room,  or  it  may  not.  But  it  must  have  its  basis  in 
the  union  of  the  two  adults  who  are  primarily  respon- 
sible for  the  welfare  of  the  family  group.  Otherwise  it 
is  not  a  home.  So  a  social  center  may  include  recreation 
facilities,  et  cetera,  or  it  may  not:  but  it  must  have  its 
basis  in  the  civic  union  of  the  adults  who  are  primarily 
responsible  for  the  welfare  of  the  neighborhood  group. 
There  is  only  one  more  extreme  misapplication  of  the 
term  social  center  than  its  use  to  designate  a  schoolhouse 
opened  merely  for  recreation ;  that  is  the  use  of  the  term 
social  center  in  designating  privately  conducted  dance 
halls. 

The  following  survey  is  furnished  by  Clarence  Arthur 
Perry,  author  of  the  "Wider  Use  of  the  School  Plant." 
Its  summaries,  he  says,  "are  probably  under-  rather  than 
overstatements,"  because  the  manifestations  of  the  move- 
ment "are  so  varied,  are  appearing  so  rapidly  and  in  so 
many  different  localities  that  any  quantitative  statement 
becomes  untrue  a  month  after  its  utterance."  While 
this  survey  is  not,  and  of  course  cannot  be,  complete,  it 
nevertheless  clearly  demonstrates  that  the  all-important 
thing  now  is  not  to  secure  the  mere  opening  of  the  school- 
houses  for  wider  use,  for  this  is  already  hastening  at  in- 
credible speed,  but  to  take  care  that  the  institution  thus 
developed  is  not,  to  use  the  term  of  Superintendent  Dyer, 
"un-American." 

Mr.  Perry's  survey  is  followed  by  a  detailed  statement, 
furnished  by  Dr.  Edward  W.  Stitt,  who,  as  District 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  has  charge  of  the  recreation 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  255 

centers  in  New  York  City,  where  this  use  of  the  school- 
houses  is  most  extensive. 

Mr.  Perry  writes: 

The  most  conspicuous  progress  in  the  socialization 
of  school  property  has  occurred  in  that  phase  of  it 
which  is  denoted  by  the  evening  recreation  center. 
Two  years  ago  there  were  only  fifteen  cities  in  which 
any  of  the  schoolhouses  were  used  as  winter  play  cen- 
ters under  the  direction  of  paid  workers.  During  the 
past  season  that  number  was  increased  to  forty-three, 
and  the  total  number  of  school  buildings  in  the  cities 
where  play  leaders  were  employed  for  evening  activ- 
ities was  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine. 

Reports  from  thirteen  cities  showed  an  expenditure 
of  $117,631  for  the  maintenance  of  recreation  centers 
during  the  season  of  1911-12.  Of  this  amount  $100,000 
was  reported  by  New  York  City,  where  forty-eight  cen- 
ters were  operated.  In  that  city  five  years  ago  the  nightly 
attendance  at  the  evening  recreation  centers  averaged 
over  9,500.  During  the  season  just  passed  the  average 
nightly  attendance  was  over  17,500. 

Chicago,  which  began  two  years  ago  with  only  two 
public  school  recreation  centers,  supported  thirteen  dur- 
ing the  winter  of  1911-12.  The  recreational  work  which 
has  been  carried  on  for  a  number  of  years  in  the  Phila- 
delphia schools  by  the  Home  and  School  League  and  its 
affiliated  organizations  has  so  thoroughly  demonstrated 
the  wisdom  of  community  provision  for  a  larger  play  life 
that  the  superintendent  of  schools  in  his  last  annual 
report  has  recommended  that  the  work  be  placed  tinder 
the  control  of  the  board  of  public  education. 

In  Boston  the  Woman's  Municipal  League  has  estab- 
lished a  popular  neighborhood  center  in  the  East  Boston 


256  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

High  School.  The  undertaking  was  directed  by  a  couple 
of  skilled  social  workers  who  settled  in  the  district  and 
spent  three  months  in  investigating  and  making  ac- 
quaintances before  opening  the  center.  Intensive  club 
work  has  been  the  leading  characteristic  of  this  interest- 
ing experiment  which  attained  such  a  pronounced  suc- 
cess that  next  year  it  is  to  be  conducted,  along  with 
four  new  centers,  by  the  school  committee. 

In  St.  Louis  the  first  definite  experiment  in  the  social 
use  of  the  public  schoolhouse  has  been  made  by  the 
Neighborhood  Association.  It  rented  Franklin  School 
from  the  board  of  education  and  used  it  as  a  meeting 
place  for  the  clubs  and  the  carrying  on  of  its  various 
recreational  and  social  activities. 

Milwaukee,  through  a  referendum,  has  authorized  its 
board  of  school  directors  to  levy  a  two-tenths  of  a  mill 
tax  for  social  and  recreation  center  work,  which  will 
yield  next  year  about  $88,000.  A  director  and  staff  have 
been  employed  to  start  this  work. 

The  Massachusetts  state  legislature  during  the  past 
year  enacted  a  law  authorizing  the  use  of  public  school 
property  in  Boston  for  social,  civic  and  other  purposes. 
As  the  result  of  an  agitation  for  social  centers  which 
had  been  waged  in  Washington,  a  bill  was  introduced  in 
the  United  States  Senate  authorizing  the  board  of  edu- 
cation to  use  public  school  buildings  as  centers  of 
recreation  and  for  other  supplementary  educational  pur- 
poses. 

In  many  cities  organized  agitations  are  being  car- 
ried on  to  secure  the  use  of  school  buildings  for 
recreation  center  work.  In  Duluth  this  is  being  urged 
by  the  board  of  public  welfare.  In  Youngstown,  Ohio, 
over  $7,000  was  raised  in  a  campaign  for  playgrounds 
and  recreation  centers  which  was  carried  on  by  the  local 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  257 

playground  association.  In  Cincinnati,  where  the  school- 
houses  have  been  open  for  evening  gymnasium  classes 
for  years,  the  proposition  of  a  more  thorough  expansion 
of  the  social  center  idea  is  being  vigorously  advocated. 
The  Evanston  Welfare  Association  of  that  city  made  a 
social  survey  of  one  of  the  districts  and  thereby  de- 
veloped facts  which  make  a  strong  argument  for  pro- 
viding wholesome  recreation  in  public  school  buildings. 

The  men's  club  of  one  of  the  large  churches  of  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts,  has  secured  the  use  of  one  of  the 
public  schools  for  neighborhood  center  work.  In  Pater- 
son,  New  Jersey,  the  Woman's  College  Club  has  agi- 
tated the  subject  of  opening  the  schools  in  that  city. 
The  Social  Service  Council  of  Portland,  Oregon,  repre- 
senting twenty-five  local  philanthropic  organizations,  is 
also  seeking  the  opening  of  the  public  school  buildings 
as  substitutes  for  the  dance  halls. 

The  above  instances  are  simply  representative  of  the 
organizations  and  their  methods;  they  do  not  constitute, 
by  any  means,  a  complete  record  of  all  the  bodies  which 
are  working  to  further  this  movement.  The  superin- 
tendents of  some  fifty  cities  other  than  those  included  in 
the  foregoing  summaries  reported  schoolhouses  which 
were  locally  known  as  "recreation  or  social  centers"; 
and  although  on  closer  inspection  of  their  reports  it 
appears  that  many  of  these  buildings  were  used  only 
for  monthly  parent-teacher  meetings  or  bi-monthly  en- 
tertainments, nevertheless  the  fact  of  their  being  reported 
is  indicative  of  the  new  attitude  of  school  officials  re- 
specting the  recreational  use  of  school  property. 

These  fifty  do  not  embrace,  even  approximately,  all 
of  the  cities  in  which  incipient  centers  are  develop- 
ing. The  increasingly  frequent  desire  to  extend  the  priv- 
ileges of  the  school  building  for  recreational  purposes 


258  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

even  when  the  board's  funds  do  not  permit  organized 
activities  is  well  illustrated  by  an  extract  from  the  report 
of  a  superintendent  in  the  far  west :  "Our  schoolhouses 
have  been  used  as  social  centers  by  permitting  the  pupils 
in  the  respective  grades,  in  charge  of  their  teacher,  to 
have  little  parties.  Also,  the  teachers  of  the  respective 
schools  have  held  social  gatherings  at  which  the  teachers 
of  the  city  have  been  invited,  together  with  other  per- 
sons interested  in  educational  work.  Schoolhouses  were 
allowed  to  be  used,  free  of  all  cost,  by  outside  organi- 
zations for  consistent  purposes.  Parents'  meetings  were 
held  in  all  the  schools,  closing  with  some  exercises  in 
which  the  pupils  take  part.  We  hope  to  do  more  of 
this  the  coming  year." 

Since  many  of  the  parent-teacher  associations  have 
recreational  and  entertaining  features  upon  their  pro- 
grams, they  cannot  be  overlooked  in  this  survey.  Some 
notion  of  the  numerousness  of  these  associations  can 
be  gained  from  the  fact  that  the  National  Congress  of 
Mothers,  with  which  the  majority  of  them  are  affiliated, 
has  branches  in  over  thirty  states,  the  number  of  local 
groups  making  up  the  state  bodies  ranging  from  twenty 
to  one  hundred  and  seventy. 

The  terrible  facts  regarding  the  extent  and  causes  of 
the  social  evil  as  revealed  by  the  report  of  the  Chicago 
Vice  Commission  have  given  a  new  impetus  to  the  move- 
ment of  providing  substitutes  for  the  vicious  dance  hall. 
In  the  effort  to  find  a  place  where  young  men  and 
women  may  come  together  in  a  social  way  under  whole- 
some auspices,  welfare  workers  are  turning  more  and 
more  to  the  public  schools.  In  New  York  City  the 
opportunity  for  social  dancing  was  afforded  during  the 
past  season  in  over  a  dozen  of  the  recreation  centers. 
In  Jersey  City  the  school  extension  committee  has  been 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  259 

instrumental  in  opening  three  of  the  public  schools  for 
social  dancing  one  night  a  week.  From  the  outset  the 
school  board  furnished  heat,  light,  and  janitor  service, 
and  after  the  work  won  the  approval  of  the  community 
it  employed  a  trained  supervisor  to  direct  it,  retaining 
the  extension  committee  in  an  advisory  capacity.  In  a 
dozen  or  so  other  cities  the  question  of  social  dancing 
in  the  public  schools  is  being  very  actively  discussed. 

In  a  large  number  of  cities  school  boards  are  prepar- 
ing for  this  general  community  use  of  the  schoolhouse 
by  providing  suitable  auditoriums  in  all  of  their  new 
ward  buildings.  In  Oklahoma  a  country  school  teacher 
in  Cleveland  County  has  been  arranging  lectures  and  en- 
tertainments in  the  rural  schools.  Many  of  them  have 
had  lyceum  courses  of  from  two  to  six  numbers,  and 
sometimes  as  many  as  twelve  meetings  are  held  simul- 
taneously in  one  county. 

In  Brooklyn,  New  York,  a  small  committee  of  citizens 
during  the  past  season  secured  the  Commercial  High 
School  for  a  series  of  free  concerts  and  lectures  on  social 
and  civic  subjects  on  Sunday  evenings.  The  course  in- 
cluded ten  concerts  given  by  high-class  quartettes  and 
other  well-known  musicians.  These  alternated  with  the 
lectures  by  persons  prominently  identified  with  various 
kinds  of  social  work.  The  attendance  at  the  first  four 
concerts  averaged  1,500  people  and  the  attendance  at 
the  lectures  ran  from  400  to  800. 

The  superintendent  of  schools  in  Alma,  Kansas,  has 
promoted  public  meetings  among  the  citizens  of  the  school 
district.  The  meetings  were  held  sometimes  in  the  after- 
noon, but  more  often  in  the  evening,  and  musical  features 
enlivened  the  evening  entertainment.  The  school  children 
addressed  and  carried  printed  invitations  to  their  parents, 
and  others  were  sent  through  the  mail.  The  discussions 


260  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

were  focused  upon  matters  of  common  community  in- 
terest. Starting  from  the  standpoint  of  sentiments  that 
already  existed,  the  attention  of  the  auditors  was  grad- 
ually directed  to  new  viewpoints  and  new  ways  of  co- 
operating for  community  betterment.  Among  the  topics 
discussed  were  school  athletics,  musical  instruction  in 
the  grades,  school  libraries,  and  student  government.  As 
the  result  of  one  meeting  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land 
for  athletics  and  agriculture  was  authorized.  Social  hy- 
giene was  the  subject  on  one  of  the  discussions,  and  a 
public  sentiment  is  now  developing  that  will  permit  the 
giving  of  systematic  instruction  in  eugenics  and  whole- 
some sex  hygiene. 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  is  now  send- 
ing out  bulletins  describing  the  progress  of  social  and 
recreation  center  work  throughout  the  country.  The 
social  service  commissions  of  a  number  of  the  leading 
religious  denominations  are  now  promoting  the  wider 
use  of  the  school  plant.  The  Social  Service  Committee 
of  the  New  York  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian 
Organizations  passed  the  following  resolutions :  "That 
the  community  should  regard  the  school  building  as  its 
property,  to  be  turned  to  every  possible  community  use. 
That  the  sense  of  the  community  should  commend  the 
work  already  done  and  demand  the  further  extension 
of  the  use  of  the  school  buildings,  outside  of  school  hours, 
until  the  needs  of  the  city  be  more  fully  met  as  regards 
summer  vacation  schools,  supervised  playgrounds,  and 
evening  recreation  centers  for  physical,  social,  literary 
and  other  activities  of  young  people  and  adults.  That 
the  use  of  school  buildings  for  polling  places  and  other 
civic  activities  be  urged  as  far  as  practicable." 

In  connection  with  the  Men  and  Religion  Forward 
Movement  during  the  past  winter,  the  wider  use  idea 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  261 

was  advocated  in  some  seventy  conferences  in  the  lead- 
ing cities  of  the  country.  Each  of  these  meetings  was 
attended  by  representatives  of  nearby  cities  and  towns, 
so  that  the  social  use  of  school  buildings  was  in  that 
way  brought  to  the  attention  of  leaders  in  the  religious 
life  of  a  large  number  of  communities  throughout  the 
country. 

Dr.  Stitt  writes : 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  the  growth  of  our 
great  nation  than  the  continued  tendency  of  the  people 
to  dwell  in  cities.  This  gradual  urbanization  of  our 
population  has  been  especially  noticeable  in  the  last  half 
century.  "In  1860,"  declares  Lawrence  Veiller  in  his 
recently  published  book  on  Housing  Reform,  "the  per- 
centage of  urban  population  was  16.1.  In  1900,  it  had 
increased  to  33.1.  The  United  States  census  for  this  year 
will  show,  it  is  estimated,  that  the  urban  population 
of  the  entire  country  is  fifty  per  cent."  All  the  Census 
figures  thus  far  published  confirm  the  above  statement. 
Almost  all  the  gains  in  population  have  been  made  in 
the  cities,  and  there  has  been  a  gradual  shifting  of  the 
population  from  the  villages  and  outlying  districts  of 
the  country  to  the  crowded  cities. 

This  enormous  urban  development  has  gradually  re- 
ceived the  close  attention  of  our  modern  sociologists. 
The  narrow  confines  of  so  many  crowded  tenements,  the 
absence  of  any  satisfactory  court-yards  in  most  apart- 
ments, and  the  fact  that  so  many  of  the  streets  and 
avenues  are  apparently  the  permanent  property  of  electric 
cars  and  automobiles,  prevent  the  city  boy  and  girl  from 
enjoying  any  of  the  free,  outdoor  sports  which  are  the 
right  and  heritage  of  every  country  child.  It  there- 
fore becomes  the  duty  of  every  municipality  to  provide 
18 


262  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

playgrounds  for  the  children  who  live  in  the  crowded 
sections  of  our  great  cities.  It  is  also  necessary  to 
care  for  the  young  men  and  women  who  are  engaged  in 
their  various  occupations  during  the  day,  and  crave 
some  form  of  recreative  activity  at  night. 

New  York  City  has  given  careful  consideration  to 
the  claims  of  the  large  army  of  workers  whose  daily 
toil  is  so  heavy  that  they  are  physically  and  mentally  too 
tired  at  night  to  attend  evening  schools,  and  whose  hum- 
ble lodgings,  located  in  the  congested  sections,  furnish 
no  opportunity  for  home  amusements.  The  schoolhouses 
are  the  proper  places  in  which  to  provide  satisfactory 
recreative  facilities  for  the  wage-earners  who  are  sixteen 
years  old  or  over. 

Our  city  has  been  especially  fortunate  in  having  as 
its  school  architect  superintendent,  C.  B.  J.  Snyder,  who 
has  devised  a  structure  called  the  "H"  school.  It  is 
especially  adapted  for  school  purposes  by  day,  and  be- 
cause of  the  high  ceilings  of  the  first  story  in  which  the 
playground  is  located,  it  is  admirably  adapted  for  gym- 
nasium purposes  at  night.  The  separate  court-yards 
formed  by  the  wings  of  the  building  also  lend  them- 
selves to  recreative  activities.  These  modern  buildings 
have  an  abundant  supply  of  electric  lights,  as  proper 
illumination  is  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  the  success 
of  the  movement. 

There  are  now  thirty-eight  different  recreation  centers 
established  in  the  five  boroughs  making  up  this  great 
metropolis.  Five  of  the  centers  located  in  outlying  por- 
tions of  the  city,  and  in  places  in  which  the  congestion 
of  population  is  not  so  great  are  open  only  two  nights 
per  week.  The  others  are  open  every  night  except  Sun- 
day, from  7.30  to  10  P.  M.  The  sessions  commence  in 
October,  and  usually  close  at  the  end  of  May. 


THE   RECREATION   CENtER  263 

There  are  several  different  departments  to  the  recrea- 
tion centers,  all  under  the  direction  of  a  principal  who 
is  expected  to  be  a  trained  gymnast,  as  well  as  a  lover  of 
humanity,  and  therefore  desirous  of  raising  the  social 
and  ethical  standards  of  those  who  attend  the  center. 

Great  importance  is  properly  placed  upon  the  athletic 
activities.  The  first  floor  of  our  modern  buildings  makes 
a  very  satisfactory  gymnasium.  It  is  well  heated  for 
use  during  the  cold  weather,  and  the  ceilings  are  made 
sufficiently  high  to  provide  excellent  ventilation,  and 
also  permit  the  installation  of  basket-ball  courts.  There 
is  provided  a  satisfactory  amount  of  gymnastic  material, 
including  the  buck,  horse,  parallel  bars,  horizontal  bar, 
jumping-standard,  dumb-bells  and  Indian  clubs,  so  that 
the  apparatus  is  sufficiently  extensive  to  permit  many 
forms  of  physical  training.  Indoor  base-ball,  hand-ball, 
quoits,  ring-toss,  and  other  such  games  are  provided, 
the  only  limitations  being  our  financial  disability,  and 
the  lack  of  proper  accommodations  as  regards  floor-s£>ace 
or  playing  area.  In  all  the  work  directed  by  the  teacher 
of  gymnastics,  no  attempt  is  made  to  create  star  athletes 
or  trained  acrobats.  The  effort  has  been  rather  to  de- 
velop young  men  of  good  physique  and.  to  teach  them 
how  to  use  the  various  kinds  of  apparatus  with  which 
the  gymnasium  is  equipped.  They  are  also  encouraged 
to  take  part  in  the  organized  games,  and  to  look  upon 
the  physical  side  of  the  recreation  center  as  being  of 
great  importance.  To  encourage  competition  and  to 
stimulate  the  natural  spirit  of  rivalry,  each  center  fre- 
quently has  a  series  of  athletic  contests  including  relay- 
races,  potato-races,  obstacle-races,  dashes  and  other  run- 
ning races,  as  well  as  the  standing  and  broad  jumps. 
Prizes  are  offered  by  the  various  clubs,  and  these  open 
meetings  are  largely  attended  by  parents  and  friends 


264  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  the  members.  At  the  end  of  the  year,  a  union  athletic 
meet  of  all  the  centers  has  been  held  in  one  of  the  largest 
armories,  and  several  thousand  people  gathered  to  wit- 
ness the  contests.  Gold,  silver  and  bronze  medals  are 
awarded  to  the  successful  competitors,  and  also  a  hand- 
some trophy  to  the  center  which  wins  the  highest  num- 
ber of  points  in  all  the  contests. 

Some  of  the  buildings  used  for  recreation  centers 
are  equipped  with  shower-baths,  and  capable  attendants 
are  provided  by  the  board  of  education  to  supervise  the 
bathing.  These  baths  are  very  essential  for  many  young 
men  and  women  who  have  not  proper  bathing  facilities 
in  their  homes.  'It  is  also  a  great  attraction  to  the  center 
to  be  provided  with  baths  so  that  those  who  have  been 
taking  severe  physical  exercise,  or  who  have  been  playing 
a  strenuous  game  of  basket-ball  or  hand-ball,  may  have 
a  chance  to  get  a  cool  shower  bath  before  venturing  out 
into  the  cool  night  air.  One  of  our  centers  is  located 
in  the  High  School  of  Commerce  which  is  fortunate 
enough  to  have  a  pool  42x21  feet,  and  a  competent 
teacher  gives  instruction  in  swimming.  This  is  a  luxury 
which  cannot  be  afforded  in  many  buildings.  It  is,  how- 
ever, of  great  importance  that  every  building  used  as  a 
recreation  center  should  be  equipped  with  several  shower- 
baths. 

A  second  branch  of  the  recreative  activity  is  provided 
in  the  game-room  and  library.  Here  such  quiet  games 
as  checkers,  chess,  dominoes,  parchesi,  and  so  forth,  are 
provided,  and  also  such  card-games  as  battles,  authors, 
and  various  historical  and  geographical  games.  Frequent 
tournaments  are  held  in  checkers  and  chess.  Last  winter 
in  one  of  our  east  side  centers  our  chess-club  tied  the 
chess-club  of  New  York  University  in  a  series  of  games. 
In  the  library  are  provided  a  number  of  the  leading 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  265 

magazines,  so  that  the  young  men  and  women  may  keep 
abreast  with  current  literature.  In  some  of  the  centers, 
the  teachers  and  some  of  those  in  attendance  purchase 
and  keep  on  file  two  or  three  evening  newspapers.  Each 
center  is  also  furnished  with  fifty  volumes  from  the  New 
York  Public  Library,  including  not  only  books  of  fiction, 
but  also  of  art,  history,  and  general  literature.  These 
books  may  be  read  in  the  center,  or  by  special  permission 
may  be  taken  home  by  the  reader. 

The  most  important  educational  department  of  'the 
recreation  center  is  found  in  the  clubs.  Sometimes 
twenty,  thirty  and  even  more  have  been  organized  in 
a  single  center.  The  board  of  education  provides  a  club 
director,  who  assists  in  the  organization  of  these  clubs, 
trains  the  members  in  parliamentary  procedure,  and  aids 
in  the  preparation  of  the  weekly  literary  program  of 
recitations,  dialogues  and  debates.  Some  of  the  clubs 
are  specially  organized  as  athletic  clubs,  and  produce 
basket-ball  teams  of  exceptional  ability.  Other  clubs  are 
more  or  less  social  in  their  nature,  and  still  others  have 
a  purely  literary  aim.  Many  clubs  embrace  all  three 
features.  The  principals  always  strive  to  persuade  all 
the  club  members  to  take  some  systematic  training  in 
the  gymnasium. 

The  clubs  have  stated  nights  of  meeting,  and  are  gov- 
erned by  duly  elected  officers  of  their  own  selection. 
Elections  are  always  decided  by  ballot,  and  the  club  mem- 
bers obtain  practical  demonstration  of  all  the  essential 
principles  of  ordinary  parliamentary  practice  in  their 
spirited  meetings.  Some  of  the  clubs  are  organized  to 
give  simple  dramatic  performances,  and  very  creditable 
work  has  been  attempted  along  this  line.  The  staging 
of  the  plays  is  necessarily  attended  with  many  mechanical 
difficulties,  and  the  young  actors  are  limited  to  costumes, 


266  THE   SOCIAL  CENTER 

which  they  may  hire  or  borrow,  or  else  ingeniously  man- 
ufacture from  clothes  loaned  for  the  purpose.  The  public 
performances  of  the  plays  are  very  largely  attended,  the 
audience  frequently  numbering  a  thousand  or  over. 

Some  of  the  clubs  are  organized  to  encourage  civic 
pride.  One  of  the  most  successful  of  these  is  the  Max- 
well Civic  League,  named  in  honor  of  the  city  super- 
intendent, William  H.  Maxwell,  who  has  done  so  much 
to  develop,  broaden,  and  encourage  the  work  of  the 
recreation  centers.  This  club  recently  held  an  open 
meeting  at  which  about  twelve  hundred  persons  were 
present.  The  program  consisted  of  many  interesting 
numbers,  including  a  session  of  a  pseudo  board  of  esti- 
mate and  apportionment,  a  stereopticon  lecture  on  the 
work  of  the  street  cleaning  department,  and  an  address 
by  myself  on  the  privileges  so  freely  afforded  by  the 
board  of  education.  A  school  orchestra  furnished  the 
music,  and  a  glee-club  of  young  ladies  sang  several 
selections.  The  average  age  of  the  immense  audience 
was  about  twenty  years,  and  all  left  at  the  end  of  the 
instructive  exercises  with  nobler  ideals  of  citizenship, 
a  broader  knowledge  of  proper  sanitary  laws,  and  a 
more  appreciative  love  for  the  city  which  furnished  so 
many  recreative  and  educational  advantages. 

In  most  of  the  recreation  centers,  one  or  more  study- 
rooms  have  been  established.  Here  the  children  of  the 
day  schools  who  have  not  proper  home  advantages  as 
regards  desks,  light,  quiet,  and  other 'necessary  adjuncts 
of  a  proper  place  for  study,  gather  in  well-lit  and -com- 
fortable rooms,  where  they  have  the  assistance  of  teachers 
of  special  ability  and  wide  experience.  Each  pupil  is 
provided  with  an  attendance  card  admitting  him  or  her 
to  the  study-room  privileges.  This  card  is  properly 
punched  by  the  teacher  in  charge,  so  that  the  parents 


THE   RECREATION   CENTER  267 

may  know  the  child  has  been  present  at  the  center,  and 
has  not  been  running  the  streets  at  night.  Very  few 
of  the  children  attending  these  classes  fail  in  their  school 
work,  and,  as  a  rule,  they  are  regularly  promoted  at  the 
end  of  the  term.  In  one  center,  out  of  two  hundred 
children  who  attended  the  study-room,  all  but  one  were 
sent  ahead  at  the  last  general  promotion. 

In  several  of  the  recreation  centers  fbr  girls  and 
women,  there  have  been  organized  very  successful  mixed 
dancing  classes.  The  principals  in  charge  of  these  cen- 
ters have  been  requested  to  use  especial  vigilance,  so 
that  all  proper  precautions  have  been  taken  that  no  criti- 
cism could  in  any  way  be  fairly  directed  against  the 
plan  of  bringing  young  men  and  women  together  once 
a  week  for  a  social  dancing  period.  The  membership 
on  the  part  of  the  young  men  has  been  restricted  to 
those  who  were  members  in  good  standing  in  clubs  in 
the  neighboring  male  center.  Cards  of  membership, 
non-transferable,  are  issued,  signed  by  the  principal  of 
the  center  at  which  the  young  men  are  regular  attend- 
ants. The  woman  principal  in  charge  of  the  center  at 
which  the  mixed  dancing  class  meets  acts  as  a  sort  of 
membership  committee,  and  has  the  right  to  refuse  ad- 
mission to  any  young  man  whom  she  does  not  consider 
a  desirable  member,  or  to  request  his  immediate  with- 
drawal any  time  his  actions  or  manners  are  not  in  every 
respect  satisfactory. 

The  first  part  of  the  evening  is  devoted  to  systematic 
instruction,  so  that  the  beginners,  especially  among  the 
young  men,  may  be  encouraged  to  learn  to  dance.  No 
attempt  is  made  to  develop  dancers  of  extraordinary 
ability.  The  young  men  who  are  naturally  awkward  and 
clumsy  are  helped  most  of  all,  as  the  desire  is  to  enable 
as  large  a  number  as  possible  to  learn  the  essentials 


268  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  dancing.  It  has  been  astonishing  to  note  the  im- 
provement in  grace,  courtesy,  and  manly  dignity  made 
by  the  young  men.  Much  attention  has  been  paid  to 
the  matter  of  personal  cleanliness  and  correct  dress, 
so  that  clean  collars,  polished  shoes,  and  the  little  re- 
finements of  polite  society  soon  came  to  be  recognized 
by  all. 

In  most  of  the  mixed  dancing  classes,  a  special  social 
evening  is  held  once  a  week,  to  which  each  member  is 
privileged  to  invite  one  friend.  The  attendance  at  the 
various  classes  varies  from  sixty  to  two  hundred.  No 
attempt,  however,  has  been  made  to  enlarge  the  mem- 
bership to  too  great  an  extent.  The  fact  that  the  num- 
ber is  restricted  adds  to  the  value  of  the  privilege,  and 
makes  those  selected  esteem  the  honor  so  highly  that 
all  are  more  than  willing  to  maintain  a  high  standard 
of  membership.  As  a  rule,  the  music  consists  of  piano 
and  violin,  though  occasionally  one  or  two  other  pieces 
are  added.  The  board  of  education  furnishes  the  piano 
and  pianist.  The  other  music  is  paid  for  by  the  club 
members  from  the  money  collected  as  dues.  For  special 
occasions,  orders  of  dancing  are  provided,  and  the  young 
men  are  taught  the  ordinary  usages  of  society  regarding 
engagements  to  dance. 

There  are  many  improvements  which  could  be  made 
in  the  further  usefulness  of  recreation  centers.  Gen- 
erally these  require  the  expenditure  of  additional  money, 
more  than  most  municipalities  will  be  willing  to  pay. 
The  following  are  suggested  as  being  some  of  the  more 
important  recommendations : 

(i)  It  is  hardly  fair  to  limit  the  advantages  of  recre- 
ation centers  to  the  poorest  sections  of  a  city.  In  some 
neighborhoods  where  persons  in  moderate  circumstances 
live  the  inroads  of  moving-picture  shows,  cheap  theaters, 


THE  RECREATION   CENTER  269 

and  the  lower  order  of  vaudeville  performances  need  to 
be  met  by  the  uplifting  influences  of  recreation  centers. 

(2)  Each  school  building  used  for  a  recreation  center 
should  have  a  large  electric  sign  outside  the  building, 
so  that  the  passers-by  may  have  their  attention  attracted 
by  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  centers. 

(3)  Glee-clubs   and   choral    societies    should  be  -or- 
ganized under  proper  musical  direction.    The  services  of 
the  supervisors  and  special  teachers  of  music  in  the  day 
schools  will  be   very  helpful.     After  some   instruction 
has  been  given,  some  of  the  simple  oratorios  and  can- 
tatas may  be  attempted  at  a  union  concert  of  the  various 
musical  clubs  of  the  centers. 

(4)  At  least  once  or  twice  a  week  mothers'   clubs 
should  meet  in  the  cooking-room  of  the  school,  and  very 
practical  lessons  in  plain  cooking  and  economic  house- 
keeping should  be  given.     If  more  mothers  knew  how 
to  make  wholesome  soups,  bread  and  rolls,  cook  potatoes 
properly,  broil  steaks  and  chops,  and  prepare  other  sim- 
ple home  dishes,  the  homes  of  many  workingmen  could 
be  made  much  happier,  and  some  of  the  saloon  prob- 
lems would  be  solved. 

(5)  Classes  in  simple  sewing,  patching,  darning,  and 
other  such  necessary  details  of  the  clothes  question  would 
help  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  poor  as  to  how  to  live 
within  their  means. 

(6)  Nurses  could  give  practical  lessons  once  a  week 
upon  such  important  topics  as  the  following:    Proper 
food  for  infants;  care  of  the  sick;  ventilation  of  bed- 
rooms; care  of  the  teeth;  cleanliness  of  the  home; -var- 
iety of   food;  first   aid  to  the  injured;   importance   of 
bathing. 

(7)  Civil  service  classes   for  those  wishing  to  join 
the  fire  and  police   forces   should  be   organized.     The 


270  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

members  can  secure  their  preparation  for  the  physical 
tests  in  the  gymnasium.  Once  a  week,  a  teacher  can  be 
assigned  to  act  as  a  helper  in  the  work  necessary  for 
the  educational  tests. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  recently  said  of  the  playgrounds : 
"They  are  the  greatest  civic  achievement  the  world  has 
ever  known."  Recreation  centers  are  really  the  play- 
grounds of  our  adults.  Effectively  equipped  and  wisely 
directed,  they  can  be  made  of  the  highest  value  in  the 
conservation  of  the  youth  of  our  city,  who  are  to  be 
the  citizens  of  the  future,  and  upon  whose  training  and 
patriotism  the  welfare  of  our  country  depends. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE  VOCATION   CENTER  AND   EMPLOYMENT   BUREAU 

The  argument  of  Mrs.  Annie  L.  Diggs  in  her  recent 
book,  "Bed  Rock,"  that  a  large  unemployed  class  is  as 
inimical  to  the  welfare  of  the  country  as  a  large  illiterate 
class  and  that  the  furnishing  of  vocational  guidance  and 
information  regarding  employment,  along  with,  and  as 
a  part  of  the  educational  system,  is  immediately  neces- 
sary, points  the  importance  of  this  chapter.  The  leaders 
in  the  movement  for  the  development  of  the  use  of  the 
schoolhouse  as  a  vocation  center  and  employment  bureau 
in  this  country  are  Mr.  Meyer  Bloomfield,  director  of 
the  Vocation  Bureau  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  John  R.  Com- 
mons, of  the  Wisconsin  Industrial  Commission.  In  his 
paper  Mr.  Bloomfield  discusses  mainly  the  vocational 
service  of  the  evening  school.  His  argument  is,  there- 
fore, chiefly  applicable  to  urban  conditions.  The  plan 
which  Dr.  Commons  sets  forth  contemplates  the  use  of 
rural  as  well  as  city  schoolhouses  as  branches  of  a  gen- 
eral system  of  employment  offices.  In  several  places  it 
has  been  found  that  the  librarian  in  the  schoolhouse 
branch  library  is  the  officer  best  situated  to  assume 
charge  of  the  neighborhood  employment  bureau. 

Mr.  Bloomfield  writes: 

The  movements  for  vocational  education  and  for  vo- 
cational guidance,  steadily  gaining  in  nation-wide  inter- 

271 


272  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

est,  promise  in  their  relation  to  the  larger  uses  of  the 
school  plant  a  unique  field  of  personal  and  social  service. 
An  age  like  ours,  sensitive  to  social  waste  in  unemploy- 
ment, misemployment,  and  exploited  childhood ;  a  public, 
keener  for  the  better  social  investment  of  youth  in  com- 
merce and  industry,  demand  of  the  school,  that  tradi- 
tional center  of  light  and  inspiration,  a  closer  relation- 
ship with  the  world  of  work  and  its  problems. 

Abundant  evidence  is  at  hand  of  the  evils  during  the 
critical  transition  from  school-life  to  working-life.  Re- 
ports such  as  those  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the 
Poor  Laws,  published  in  England  two  years  ago,  and 
the  studies  of  child-helping  societies  in  this  country,  con- 
firm the  conviction  of  all  thoughtful  observers  that  the 
community  has  failed  thus  far  to  bridge  the  gap  between 
school  and  the  occupations. 

T  The  school  influence  abruptly  terminates  when  tens 
of  thousands  of  fourteen-year-old  boys  and  girls  in  this 
country  get  their  working  certificate  and  are  "pitch- 
forked into  the  working  world,"  as  Charles  Booth  has 
put  it.  At  no  time  in  their  lives  is  the  social  protection 
of  the  school  and  the  community  more  needed  for  these 
children.  At  no  other  period  does  guidance  and  train- 
ing prove  more  fruitful.  The  period  of  adolescence  is 
the  moral  crucible  of  youth.  The  schoolhouse  has  here 
a  strategic  opportunity  of  cooperating  with  the  home  and 
the  occupation  in  order  to  tide  over  that  part  of  one's 
lifetime  wherein  efficiency  or  inefficiency  develops. 

Unquestionably  many  a  devoted  teacher  has  started  an 
individual  boy  or  girl  on  a  career  of  usefulness  and  suc- 
cess. The  complex  age  we  live  in,  however,  requires, 
if  we  do  justice  to  the  masses  as  well  as  to  the  individ- 
uals, that  the  sympathy  and  initiative  of  the  teachers  be 
supplemented  by  a  thorough-going  organized  service  of 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   CENTER  273 

vocational  training  and  vocational  guidance.  For  the 
multitude  of  fourteen-year-old  children  who  drop  out  of 
school  never  again  to  study  anywhere,  a  schoolhouse 
must  be  so  organized  as  to  reach  them  with  its  influence 
and  its  service.  Until  such  time,  therefore,  as  a  more 
enlightened  public  sentiment  shall  raise  the  compulsory 
school  age  of  childhood,  and  until  socially  minded  em- 
ployers realize  the  wastefulness  of  employing  young 
people  at  all,  there  is  a  work  of  conservation  which  the 
common  school  must  energetically  undertake. 

Broadly  speaking,  all  education  aims  to  develop  the 
capacity  for  living  and  for  a  livelihood.  Home-making, 
citizenship,  and  bread-winning  are  phases,  the  effective 
union  of  which  make  the  man  and  the  woman.  Voca-' 
tional  education  is  becoming  a  part  of  the  public  school 
system,  and  in  communities  educationally  progressive 
continuation  schools  are  being  started  so  that  work  and 
a  fundamental  training  for  work  go  together.  Before 
long  legislation  will  enforce  a  short  working  day  for  all 
minors  who  will  be  obliged  to  receive  instruction  with 
wage-earning. 

Underlying  all  this  preparation  for  life  and  a  liveli- 
hood is  the  necessity  of  studying  the  individual  apti- 
tudes and  circumstances  of  each  child  and  of  the  occu- 
pations which  the  children  may  to  their  best  advantage 
engage  in.  Such  a  study  demands  time  and  resources, 
and  to  give  counsel  based  on  such  study  requires  excep- 
tional insight,  sympathy,  and  skill.  The  present  day  de- 
mands this  specialized  service  for  the  protection  of  young 
people. 

Most  boys  and  girls  do  not  choose  their  life-work; 
nor  are  they  prepared  for  it.  They  find  the  first  job  to 
hand — whichever  job  pays  the  most,  that  is  the  one 
scrambled  for.  Parents  are  too  busy  and  uninformed  to 


274  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

guide  their  children  intelligently.  Teachers,  however 
kindly,  cannot  be  expected  to  know  the  facts  about  the 
vocations,  their  dangers,  advantages,  disadvantages,  and 
what  they  hold  out  to  those  they  employ.  It  so  happens 
that  most  "blind  alley"  occupations  pay  young  people 
oftentimes  twice  the  wages  of  the  occupations  which  are 
educative  and  in  which  progress  is  possible.  The  doffer 
boys  of  a  cotton-mill  receive  much  more  than  machin- 
ists' apprentices,  or  the  boys  in  an  architect's  office.  In- 
deed, the  latter  are  often  glad  for  the  sake  of  the  train- 
ing they  receive  to  work  for  nothing.  The  doffer  boy 
can  never  get  more  wages,  and  at  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  of  age  he  is  out  on  the  street  unfitted  for  any  use- 
ful occupation.  There  are  many  parents  who  would 
gladly  make  even  more  sacrifice  than  they  now  do  in 
order  to  give  their  children  a  good  start  in  life,  but  no 
one  is  at  hand  to  tell  them  about  the  vocations,  and  to 
point  out  to  them  what  must  inevitably  befall  their  chil- 
dren in  this  or  that  occupation.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
vocational  counselors  in  connection  with  the  public 
school. 

The  Boston  School  Department,  awakened  to  the  situ- 
ation, has  joined  hands  with  the  Vocation  Bureau — a 
work  maintained  by  public-spirited  men  and  women  to 
study  the  occupations  in  their  relations  to  young  workers 
— and,  as  a  result,  vocational  advisers  have  been  ap- 
pointed in  every  school  in  Boston.  These  advisers  are 
studying  the  employments  open  to  young  people,  and 
some  of  them  are  preparing  themselves  as  for  a  new 
profession.  Harvard  University  has  recognized  the  need 
of  fitting  teachers  as  vocational  counselors,  and  a  be- 
ginning was  made  in  the  Harvard  Summer  School  of 
1911  by  means  of  a  course  on  Vocational  Guidance. 
.  The  wider  use  of  the  school  buildings  is  naturally 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   CENTER  275 

associated  with  its  use  outside  of  the  regular  day  school 
world.  For  wage-earners  it  is  the  evening  school  en- 
largement we  have  in  mind,  and,  consequently,  the  need 
is  for  an  evening  program  that  shall  minister  to  the 
vocational  problems  of  young  wage-earners.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  night  school  is  the  poor  relation  of  the  school 
system.  Whatever  is  left  over  from  the  heavy  and 
growing  demands  of  the  insufficiently  maintained  day 
school  determines  the  length  of  the  evening  school  period 
and  its  activities.  But  as  the  social  service  which  the 
night  school  can  render  is  better  understood,  the  public 
will  come  to  regard  the  night  school  budget  as  a  fixed 
charge  which  it  cannot  safely  cut. 

Dealing  as  it  does  with  wage-earners,  young  and  old, 
the  night  school  has  a  singular  opportunity  of  providing 
instruction  intended  to  quicken  what  President  Eliot  has 
called  the  "life-career-motive."  The  night-school  service 
must  be  saturated  with  the  vocational  purpose,  else  it  is 
a  failure.  The  English  taught  to  foreigners  must  be 
practical  enough  to  serve  them  as  peddlers,  laborers,  and 
artisans;  the  geography  must  point  out  the  boundaries 
of  states,  not  only  in  terms  of  hills  and  rivers,  but  also 
in  those  of  mines  and  mills  and  other  wage-earning  re- 
sources. In  other  words,  the  culture  of  the  evening 
school  must  not  be  academic,  and  remote,  but  real,  vital, 
and  significant.  It  is  a  dangerous  snobbishness  which 
regards  the  utilitarian  view  of  education  as  inferior 
and  unworthy.  There  is  a  difference  between  the  prac- 
tical and  the  sordid.  All  that  the  vocational  idea  aims 
for  is  to  make  men  and  women  effectively  self-sup- 
porting citizens,  respecting  the  producer  and  despising 
the  parasite. 

A  large  number  of  the  night  school  pupils,  particularly 
the  young,  are  in  an  unstable  condition  of  employment. 


276  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

They  change  frequently  and  they  are  wholly  without 
guidance.  This  continual  change  makes  for  demoraliza- 
tion quite  as  often  as  for  betterment.  The  night  school 
which  ties  up  its  instruction  with  the  vocational  prob- 
lems of  its  students  will  succeed  far  beyond  any  of  the 
present  type. 

>  The  following  program  is  therefore  suggested  for  the 
use  of  the  night  school  as  a  vocational  guidance  center, 
the  purpose  being  to  develop  happier  and  more  efficient 
workers.  In  the  first  place,  vocational  record-cards 
should  be  kept  of  every  pupil  showing  what  their  occu- 
pations are  now  and  what  they  have  been,  both  here,  and, 
m  the  case  of  the  immigrants,  abroad.  The  educational 
history  of  each  student  should  also  be  recorded.  These 
cards  must  be  treated  as  live  material  and  not  as  mere 
statistics.  Someone,  preferably  a  specially  designated 
vocational  counselor  in  that  school,  must  use  the  facts 
disclosed  by  the  record-cards  as  a  basis  for  organizing 
appropriate  vocational  and  social  service.  In  the  first 
place,  the  counselor  should  have  a  personal  interview 
with  each  pupil  to  ascertain  what  his  present  problems 
are.  On  the  one  hand  there  will  be  those  found  who 
can  be  persuaded  to  take  courses  that  will  advance  them 
in  their  present  employment;  then  there  is  another  and 
very  large  group  whose  preparation  may  be  started  for 
another  occupation.  These  plans  can  be  pursued  with- 
out encroaching  upon  the  fundamental  work  of  the  regu- 
lar evening  school.  Indeed,  the  pupils  will  be  found 
eager  to  spend  more  time  in  school  and  to  attend  more 
regularly  because  of  the  vocational  opportunities  offered. 
An  evening  school  physician  is  needed  as  a  medical  ad- 
viser. Every  pupil  should  be  given  the  opportunity  to 
consult  this  physician,  at  least  once  during  the  school 
year,  about  his  physical  condition,  and  the  classes  should 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   CENTER  277 

be  addressed  on  topics  dealing  with  industrial  hygiene 
and  occupational  diseases.  No  greater  service  than  this 
could  be  rendered  to  the  pupils  and  to  the  community, 
for  among  the  pupils  are  painters  and  others  whose  work 
subjects  them  to  the  risk  of  lead-poisoning,  and  there  are 
thousands  of  others  who  are  in  dust-breathing  employ- 
ments. The  prevention  of  tuberculosis  must  be  a  re- 
iterated topic  of  discussion.  Indeed,  the  vocational  aim 
of  the  night  school  makes  it  essentially  a  school  of  health, 
for  health  is  efficiency. 

A  large  proportion  of  night  school  pupils  are  immi- 
grants. The  removal  and  distribution  of  the  new  Ameri- 
cans out  of  the  congested  tenement  district  will  be 
hastened  by  such  information  as  to  opportunities  of 
employment  outside  of  their  localities  as  will  enable  these 
thoughtful  students  to  work  out  their  own  vocational 
salvation.  The  night  school  must  be  not  only  a  center 
of  information  about  the  trades  and  professions,  the 
rural  as  well  as  the  urban  occupations,  but  must  have 
also  the  closest  affiliation  with  the  public  and  the  private 
educational  agencies  which  offer  technical  courses  to 
wage-earners.  And  in  communities  where  such  facilities 
are  lacking  the  vocational  adviser  must  work  for  their 
establishment. 

It  is  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  the  evening  school 
vocational  adviser  to  discover  and  help  develop  the 
talent  and  the  special  capacities  among  the  various  pupils, 
and  having  done  so  to  connect  them  with  their  appro- 
priate opportunities.  Some  pupils  are  book-dull  but  tool- 
bright.  The  adviser  should  find  the  facilities  for  testing 
the  pupils  in  as  many  ways  as  possible  in  order  fairly 
to  judge  of  their  endowments. 

Simple  talks  and  debates  can  be  organized  in  the  night 
school  dealing  with  the  occupations  and  their  relative 
19 


278  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

merits.  Some  years  ago  there  was  a  series  of  discussions 
at  the  Civic  Service  House,  Boston,  dealing  with  ped- 
dling, the  trades,  the  professions,  farm  life  and  city  life. 
Adult  immigrants  struggling  for  a  livelihood  took  part 
in  these  discussions  and  contributed  information,  criti- 
cism and  suggestions  of  greatest  value. 

To  make  the  vocational  service  of  the  night  school 
real  and  attractive  it  is  necessary  for  the  relief  of  the 
tired  brains  and  bodies  that  come  for  instruction  to  com- 
bine wholesome  amusement  with  vocational  information. 
Men,  women  and  children  crowd  the  store  windows 
where  a  demonstration  is  in  progress.  It  may  be  a  tobacco 
store  where  a  skillful  carver  is  transforming  a  lump 
of  meerschaum,  a  cutlery  shop  where  an  ingenious  whit- 
tier  is  exhibiting  the  magic  of  a  sharp  knife  deftly 
handled,  or  even  a  humble  but  immaculate  eating-place 
with  its  show  of  well-made  flap-jacks.  People  like  to 
see  things  done.  They  learn  by  seeing  them  done  just 
as  they  learn  by  doing  them.  The  night  school  should 
provide  for  vocational  demonstration.  Moving  pictures 
and  lantern  slides  can  be  used  for  vocational  instruction. 
An  educational  moving-picture  show  in  a  night  school 
would  crowd  its  largest  hall.  That  alone  would  effec- 
tively compete  with  the  unwholesome  amusements  of 
the  night  school  neighborhoods.  We  have  here  a  large 
and  undeveloped  field  of  instruction  and  social  service. 

The  wider  uses  of  the  school  building  is  an  accepted 
proposition  by  all  thoughtful  people.  The  ordinary  night 
school  as  an  instrument  for  vocational  efficiency  is  not 
so  well  understood.  In  the  day  schools  we  shall  see 
vocational  counselors  helping  more  and  more  children 
to  prolong  their  school  life  and  to  start  their  bread-win- 
ning career  intelligently.  The  large  night  school  popu- 
lation of  this  country  must  likewise  be  taken  into  account 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   CENTER  279 

in  our  social  development  of  the  school  plan.  The  social 
worker,  the  teacher,  and  the  vocational  adviser  dealing 
with  these  earnest,  self-supporting  students  have  before 
them  a  vast  opportunity  for  contribution  to  the  public 
good.  Their  particular  privilege  it  is  to  bring  work  and 
school  into  closer  relations,  to  help  make  life  and  a  live- 
lihood one  in  the  service  of  democracy. 

Dr.  Commons  writes: 

What  is  an  employment  office  and  what  are  its  func- 
tions? A  place  where  buyer  and  seller  of  labor  may 
meet  with  least  difficulty  and  least  loss  of  time.  This 
function  is  now  performed  by  private  agencies  and  news- 
papers. They  fail  of  their  complete  purpose  because 
there  are  many  of  them  and  each  is  small.  The  more 
places  to  look  for  work  the  more  likely  that  man  and 
job  will  miss  each  other.  "Don't  fly  around  looking  for 
a  job,"  says  a  newspaper.  "Advertise !"  But  without 
one  central  agency,  workmen  must  do  this. 

The  function  of  an  employment  office  is  best  expressed 
by  the  British  term  "labor  exchange."  Exchange  im- 
plies a  market.  It  is  an  organization  of  the  labor  mar- 
ket, just  as  the  stock  market,  the  cotton  market,  the 
wheat  market  are  organized. 

Why  is  an  employment  office  needed?  Employers 
are  constantly  discharging  and  hiring  laborers.  Work- 
men are  constantly  looking  for  jobs.  One  firm  in  Mil- 
waukee hires  from  60  to  240  men  a  week.  About  ten 
per  cent  of  all  those  employed  change  places  because  of 
seasonal  work.  Four  out  of  every  ten  workmen  have 
to  look  for  work  at  least  once  a  year.  There  is  need 
of  an  organized  market  because,  without  such  an  ex- 
change, each  factory  and  each  district  of  a  city  tends  to 


280  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

become  a  market.  Each  has  its  reserve  labor  force  ready 
to  work  when  needed.  Many  markets  tend  to  increase 
the  number  of  unemployed.  Lack  of  organization  causes 
maladjustment.  "Manless  job"  and  "jobless  man"  do 
not  meet  and  maladjustment  of  two  kinds  occurs.  First, 
is  an  oversupply  of  labor  in  one  place  and  lack  of  labor 
in  another.  Second,  some  occupations,  particularly  those 
of  unskilled  laborers,  are  greatly  over-supplied  while 
many  skilled  occupations  have  not  enough  men. 

What  is  the  ideal  organization  of  the  labor  market? 
Ideal  organization  would  be  national.  One  unified 
national  labor  exchange  would  reduce  idleness  by  having 
a  single  market  so  that  over-supply  anywhere  could 
be  shifted  to  meet  demand  anywhere  else.  At  present, 
each  manufacturer  and  each  district  is  interested  in 
having  idle  workmen  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
ready  to  go  to  work  when  they  are  needed.  But  as  it  is 
impossible  to  get  national  action  at  once,  we  must  begin 
with  state  action. 

What  is  the  ideal  labor  market  of  a  state  ? 

(a)  Free  employment  offices  maintained  by  the  state. 

(b)  Free  employment    offices    maintained    by    local 

committees. 

(c)  Private  agencies  regulated  by  state. 

(d)  Correspondents  in  various  cities  and  industries. 

(e)  Reports  from  all  to  a  central  clearing  house. 

(f)  Periodical  bulletin  of  the  labor  market. 
What  is  the  ideal  for  a  city? 

(a)  Central  office  in  the  business  center. 

(b)  Branches  in  various  residence  districts. 

(c)  The  school  as  a  branch  of  the  employment  bureau. 
If  each  schdolhouse  has  a  director  of  its  social  center 

service,  he  could  be  supplied  with  blanks  from  the 
main  employment  office.  A  workman,  by  going  to  the 


THE  EMPLOYMENT   GENtER  281 

school  nearest  his  house  to  register,  could  be  immedi- 
ately connected  with  the  whole  organized  labor  market 
of  the  state.  The  fact  that  he  is  out  of  a  job  and  the 
kind  of  work  he  can  do  will  be  immediately  known 
at  the  city  exchange  and  in  a  day  the  central  clearing 
house  will  know.  If  a  man  of  his  trade  qualifications 
is  wanted  anywhere  in  the  city,  the  director  of  the  social 
center  will  be  able  to  inform  him  after  a  talk  with  the 
central  office  in  the  city.  If  there  is  a  place  for  him 
anywhere  in  the  state,  it  will  be  known  to  him  in  the 
course  of  a  few  days.  No  discouraging  tramping  of  city 
streets,  no  spending  of  precious  pennies  for  car  fare  or 
newspapers  or  as  fees  to  private  agents.  This  will  tend 
to  remove  maladjustment  of  place.  It  is  of  use  par- 
ticularly to  the  immigrant  and  the  ignorant.  It  would 
tend  to  distribute  population  by  removing  congestion 
in  certain  places. 

Maladjustment  of  occupation  belongs  to  the  vocational 
bureau.  The  school,  as  a  branch  of  the  children's  de- 
partment of  the  employment  office,  will  tend  to  remove 
this  kind  of  maladjustment.  British  figures  show  that 
while  about  75  per  cent  of  applications  for  work  cannot 
be  filled,  40  per  cent  of  the  jobs  could  not  be  filled.  How 
to  direct  some  of  the  75  per  cent  excess  so  as  to  reduce 
the  40  per  cent  lack  is  the  problem  of  the  school.  'Rec- 
ords of  children's  aptitudes  should  be  kept  in  school. 
Teachers  can  best  tell  what  the  child  is  good  for.  The 
children's  department  of  a  free  employment  office  has 
special  blanks  for  children.  These  can  be  filled  out  in 
the  schools  with  the  aid  and  advice  of  teachers.  The 
employment  office  has  the  best  records  of  desirable  trades, 
those  which  are  growing.  Children  are  thus  directed 
into  the  most  promising  occupations.  Vocational  train-' 
ing  in  public  schools  and  trade  schools  need  employ- 


282  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

ment  offices  to  connect  children  with  the  business  world. 
The  schoolhouse  as  a  branch  of  the  organized  state 
labor  market  meets  this  need.  Thus  the  free  employ- 
ment office  connects  up  with  the  vocational  bureau  and 
its  special  juvenile  advisory  committee  of  employers, 
employees  and  educators  to  encourage  apprenticeship, 
to  visit  parents  and  child  and  to  encourage  the  boy 
to  stick  to  trades  and  not  to  jump  into  "blind  alley" 
employments. 

How  to  induce  school  teachers  and  principals  to  co- 
operate in  this  great  agency  is  a  matter  that  can  be 
worked  out  when  once  its  importance  is  understood.  The 
Industrial  Commission  is  meeting  with  success  in  en- 
listing municipal  authorities  and  local  associations  of 
manufacturers  in  supporting  financially  and  supervising 
the  employment  offices.  It  has  arranged  with  a  few 
country  bankers  to  act  as  agents  for  their  localities. 
With  a  broadening  idea  of  the  school  as  a  social  center 
and  the  employment  of  principals  who  are  wide  awake 
and  alive  to  their  social  opportunities,  the  commission 
could  enlist  them  as  a  part  in  a  comprehensive  scheme 
for  the  state.  Such  men  should,  of  course,  receive 
extra  compensation,  not  only  for  this,  but  also  for  other 
work  outside  the  usual  pedagogical  lines.  The  policy 
of  the  Industrial  Commission,  and  the  one  that  will  make 
local  cooperation  most  effective,  indicates  that  these 
local  expenses  should  be  met  by  the  local  authorities, 
while  the  state  meets  the  general  expenses  and  the  sal- 
aries of  those  in  the  larger  offices  who  are  required  to 
give  their  entire  time  to  the  work. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE  PUBLIC   HEALTH   OFFICE 

"Gentlemen,  some  of  us  are  beginning  to  feel  that  to 
point  out  the  causes  of  the  diseases  and  defects  of  the 
school  children  is  only  going  half  the  distance.  We  are 
becoming  convinced  that  the  true  method  is  to  work  for 
the  removal  of  the  conditions  which  permit  these  causes 
to  become  operative." 

Thus  spoke  Dr.  George  B.  Young,  Commissioner  of 
Health  of  Chicago,  before  the  First  National  Conference 
on  Social  Center  Development.  His  paper,  which  has 
been  printed  as  a  bulletin  by  the  Wisconsin  University 
Extension  Division,  points  out  the  necessity  of  democrati- 
cally founded  and  complete  social  center  development  in 
order  to  deal  with  the  social  maladjustments  of  which 
individual  disease  is  coming  to  be  recognized  as,  in  part 
at  least,  merely  a  symptom. 

In  the  two  papers  which  follow,  the  one  by  Dr.  George 
W.  Goler,  Health  Commissioner  of  Rochester,  the  other 
by  Dr.  Oakley  W.  Norton,  of  the  same  city,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse  as  a  health  and  dental 
office  is  considered  chiefly  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
child.  Community  self-service  through  the  cooperative 
employment  of  neighborhood  health  or  dental  service  has 
only  begun,  but  this  is  a  development  to  be  expected,  and 
for  reasons  set  forth  in  Dr.  Goler's  paper  the  school- 

283 


284  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

houses  furnish  the  convenient  places  for  this  neighbor- 
hood branching  of  the  public  health  service. 

Dr.  Goler  writes: 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  community  to  provide  that  every 
child  shall  be  physically  and  mentally  well  born ;  and  for 
this  purpose  the  city  must  provide  that  midwifery  train- 
ing shall  be  thorough;  that  midwives,  if  permitted  to 
practise  at  all,  shall  have  the  same  physiological  obstet- 
ric training  as  that  given  to  medical  students  for  the 
degree  of  Medical  Doctor.  Midwives  and  physicians 
both  must  be  thoroughly  grounded  in  hygiene  of  the 
child,  so  as  to  be  able  to  teach  both  expectant  mothers 
and  the  mothers  of  the  babies  already  born  how  to  care 
for  their  children.  This  training  should  also  include 
work  in  sex  hygiene  so  that  syphilis  and  gonorrhea, 
those  scourges  of  the  race,  may  in  a  measure  be  lessened. 
Births  must  be  very  carefully  reported.  Every  death 
among  children  must  be  looked  up  in  the  birth  register, 
and  if  the  birth  of  the  child  has  not  been  reported  the 
attendant  should  be  dealt  with  according  to  law.  Inspec- 
tors and  nurses  visiting  a  family  for  any  cause  should 
inquire  as  to  the  obstetric  attendant  of  every  child  in 
the  family  under  two  years  of  age,  and  with  the  name 
of  the  attendant  and  the  name  of  the  father  return 
these  data  to  the  health  officer  for  comparison  with  the 
birth  records.  That  the  transmission  of  ophthalmia  neona- 
torum  may  be  caused  to  disappear,  preventive  treatment 
in  the  case  of  every  child  born  should  be  made  by  law 
a  part  of  the  duty  of  every  obstetric  attendant. 

To  insure  the  normal  physical  development  of  school 
children,  a  medical  school  inspector,  who  shall  be  the  dis- 
trict physician,  should  be  attached  to  every  school,  whose 
duty  it  should  be  to  determine  not  alone  the  freedom 


THE   PUBLIC   HEALTH    OFFICE  285 

of  the  child  from  transmissible  diseases,  but  who  shall 
be  responsible  for,  and  who  shall  make,  a  physical  in- 
spection, and  later  as  the  plan  develops  a  more  detailed 
examination.  Record  should  be  made  of  the  relations  of 
height  to  weight  for  age;  the  measure  of  all  the  sense 
developments  by  instruments  of  precision;  a  nose  and 
throat  formula,  showing  the  number  and  location  of 
nose  and  throat  obstructions;  the  condition  of  the  cir- 
culatory and  respiratory  apparatus;  and  a  vaccinating 
formula,  showing  when  and  how  many  vaccine  scars  the 
child  exhibits.  These  data  should  be  annually  registered 
on  a  card  that  shall  accompany  the  child  from  grade 
to  grade  or  from  school  to  school,  the  card  along  with 
the  baptismal  and  school  certificate  to  be  used  as  a 
prerequisite  for  permission  to  go  to  work. 

In  every  school  there  must  be  a  school  dentist  with 
chair  and  dental  equipment,  who  shall  teach  the  hygiene 
of  the  mouth,  the  relation  between  infantile  disease — 
diphtheria,  scarlet  fever,  measles  and  whooping  cough — 
and  the  decay  of  the  teeth;  who  shall  make  an  annual 
dental  formula  exhibiting  the  state  of  the  child's  dentition 
on  entering  school,  and,  by  careful  inspection,  advise  and 
teach  the  child  how  to  preserve  the  teeth. 

For  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  school  and  home  into 
closer  relation,  every  school  should  have  its  nurse,  who 
should  be  the  assistant  to  the  school  physician.  The 
nurse  should  not  occupy  her  time  altogether  in  rendering 
assistance  to  the  doctor  in  the  school,  but  should  visit 
the  homes  of  the  pupils  wherever  and  whenever  neces- 
sary to  render  assistance,  and  give  advice  to  mothers 
relating  to  the  preservation  of  the  health  of  the  child. 

Out  of  the  development  of  this  preliminary  work  there 
must  be  established  in  every  school  a  laboratory  of 
hygiene  for  the  study  of  these  problems  relating  to 


286  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  normal  health  and  development  of  the  well  child. 
Not  only  must  the  sense  apparatus  of  the  child  be  studied 
and  recorded  in  these  laboratories,  but  many  questions 
relating  to  child  physiology  and  psychology  must  be 
opened  for  inquiry,  among  them  that  great  question  of 
child  fatigue. 

When  these  problems  have  received  the  attention  they 
deserve,  physical  training  and  instruction  in  hygiene 
will  be  made  a  part  of  the  work  in  every  school. 
Bathing,  clothing,  the  care  of  eyes,  ears,  nose,  throat, 
teeth,  and  skin  will  be  made  subjects  of  instruction  in 
_every  school.  The  shower,  the  plunge,  the  gymnasium 
and  gymnastic  indoor  and  outdoor  games  will  have  a 
place  in  every  school  under  the  direction  of  a  physical 
instructor.  To  provide  for  the  physical  well-being  of 
the  people  generally  by  securing  hygienic  conditions  in 
the  home,  we  will  no  longer  permit  to  exist  without 
care  and  education  that  unfilled  gap  in  child  life  between 
birth  and  the  time  the  child  attends  school,  but  we  will 
fill  in  that  gap  by  supplying  the  much-to-be-desired 
teacher  nurse  for  this  neglected  period  of  childhood. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  school  and  district 
physician,  the  visiting  teacher  nurse  for  expectant 
mothers  and  infant  children  will  do  visiting  work  in 
cooperation  with  the  school  nurse,  the  health  department 
and  the  maternity  hospital.  Through  all  these  agencies 
she  will  discover  when  the  stork  may  be  expected,  and 
she  will  be  ready  with  advice  and,  out  of  her  nursing 
experience,  she  will  be  able  to  show  the  mother  how  to 
bathe,  clothe,  and  otherwise  care  for  her  child;  how  to 
keep  it  well  and  how  to  prevent  it  from  becoming  sick; 
how  to  nurse  it  should  it  meet  with  the  accident  of  sick- 
ness. She  will  be  the  hygienic  adviser  in  the  home.  She 
will  advise  the  mother  about  the  vaccination  of  her 


THE   PUBLIC  HEALTH    OFFICE  287 

child.  In  the  homes  of  her  district  she  will  be  the  hand- 
maiden of  the  district  physician  and  the  school  dentist, 
to  whom  she  will  look  for  advice  and  direction.  Through 
her  close  relations  to  the  family  she  will  learn  of  the 
unsanitary  conditions  about  the  house,  in  the  shops,  fac- 
tories, working  places  of  the  members  of  the  family, 
and  she  will  refer  all  of  these  matters  to  the  properly 
constituted  sanitary  authorities  for  investigation  and 
rectification.  She  will  also,  through  her  relation  with 
the  family  and  with  the  officers  of  the  public  and  pri- 
vate places  of  worship  and  amusement,  find  means  for 
bringing  to  the  attention  of  the  proper  authorities  notice 
of  unsanitary  conditions  that  may  exist  in  any  one  of 
them. 

The  work  of  the  school  nurse,  the  school  doctor,  the 
school  dentist,  the  visiting  teacher  nurse  will  all  be  made 
easier  and  the  results  consequently  greater  when  pro- 
vision is  made  for  opening  the  school  buildings  as  places 
of  rest  and  recreation,  and  as  places  for  social,  scien- 
tific and  political  meetings,  and  when  well  equipped 
gymnasia  and  laboratories  are  provided  in  the  schools; 
and  when  the  parks  are  really  made  the  parks  of  the 
whole  people,  by  providing  fares  within  the  reach  of 
the  workingman,  or,  what  is  better,  transportation  on 
the  street  cars  nearly  as  free  as  air.  When  all  these 
things  shall  have  been  done,  tuberculosis  and  the  acute 
contagious  diseases  will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  We 
will  not  spend  our  time  nursing  the  sick,  for  sickness 
will  be  as  rare  as  smallpox  in  a  well  vaccinated  com- 
munity, and  the  money  now  spent  for  the  care  of  the 
sick  will  be  put  into  institutions  for  outdoor  and  indoor 
recreation,  and  the  balance  will  be  used  to  keep  people 
well.  The  above  group  of  functions  will  doubtless  be 
best  perfected  by  the  state  or  some  of  its  subdivisions. 


288  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

Private  agencies,  however,  have  now  their  great  oppor- 
tunity; for,  as  Samuel  Hopkins  Adams  has  well  said: 
"It  is  the  duty  of  private  philanthropy  to  point  the  way 
to  public  responsibility."  None  of  the  work  of  keeping 
well  should  be  left  wholly  to  private  agencies,  for  theirs 
is  the  duty  to  point  the  way,  to  fill  the  gaps  now  unpro- 
vided for,  and  as  fast  as  the  work  of  filling  in  the  chinks 
is  accomplished,  the  work  should  be  handed  over  to  the 
state.  The  organization  of  these  various  activities  makes 
for  the  health  and  happiness  of  the  whole  people  and 
naturally  falls  within  the  lines  of  public  health  and 
school  organization,  and  it  is  to  these  institutions  that 
we  must  look  for  the  elaboration  of  a  plan  for  the  phys- 
ical and  mental  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  whole 
people,  once  private  effort  has  pointed  out  the  way. 
For  in  this  age  of  ours  it  is  not  to  the  care  of  the  sick 
that  we  should  direct  our  efforts,  but  to  the  education 
for  health  and  happiness  of  the  whole  people. 

The  scheme  here  outlined  may  appear  at  first  sight  to 
be  both  elaborate  and  expensive.  The  cost  of  any  plan 
having  for  its  object  prevention  of  sickness,  ameliora- 
tion of  suffering,  promotion  of  happiness^  must  be  bal- 
anced against  the  cost  of  sickness,  suffering,  widow- 
hood, and  preventable  death,  and  the  dip  of  the  balance 
is  far  on  the  side  of  prevention.  In  most  great  cities  the 
frame  work  of  a  large  part  of  the  plan  has  already 
been  perfected;  it  only  remains  for  the  activities  we 
have  to  be  joined  together  into  a  perfected  whole. 

In  many  cities  we  have  established  a  primitive  kind 
of  medical  school  inspection,  and  we  have  made  a  begin- 
ning in  school  nursing.  It  now  remains  for  us  to  build 
in  both  directions ;  to  construct  a  plan  for  the  prevention 
of  disease  in  children  and  for  the  care  of  children  who 
meet  with  the  accident  of  sickness,  that  will  result  in 


THE   PUBLIC  HEALTH   OFFICE  289 

the  saving  of  health,  the  postponement  of  death,  and, 
therefore,  in  the  prolongation  of  life  and  the  promotion 
of  happiness;  for  health  is  a  human  asset,  sickness  an 
economic  loss.  To  nurse  the  sick  is  neither  so  wise,  so 
humane  nor  so  economic  as  to  health  nurse  the  well. 
Can  we  not  perfect  and  extend  our  scheme  for  medical 
school  inspection  and  school  health  nursing  by  card 
indexing  for  health  the  physical  and  psychological  values 
of  our  children,  passing  the  cards  from  grade  to  grade 
and  from  school  to  school;  and,  school  ended,  using 
the  card  records  as  certificates  for  permission  to  work 
and  for  physical  permission  to  enter  the  high  school  or 
college?  Is  it  not  just  as  important  that  our  children 
should  leave  school,  enter  high  school  or  college,  go  into 
the  store,  factory  or  workshop  with  certificates  of  phys- 
ical and  psychical  efficiency,  as  that  they  should  enter 
the  high  school  or  college  with  certificates  of  mental 
efficiency?  Ought  we  not  to  have  a  standard  of  health 
by  which  the  child  is  permitted  to  enter  either  the  pri- 
mary or  secondary  schools  or  the  college?  If  in  cer- 
tain families  parents  surround  their  children  with  all 
the  safeguards  for  their  physical  health,  and  the  child 
or  children  associating  with  these  guarded  children  is 
a  disease  carrier,  has  not  the  time  come  when  the  parents 
who  safeguard  their  child  shall  ask  for  protection  against 
those  children  who  are  carriers  of  disease? 

We  have  organized  our  schools  so  that  school  work 
depends  largely  upon  the  ability  of  pupils  to  learn  les- 
sons. How  much  do  we  know  of  the  physical  efficiency 
and  physical  robustness  of  these  children?  The  back- 
ward child  is  often  a  child  who  cannot  breathe  because 
of  obstruction  in  the  upper  air  passages;  the  anaemic 
child  is  anaemic  for  the  same  reason.  The  child  who 
is  deficient  in  his  school  work  is  often  found  to  be  the 


290  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

child  who  cannot  see  or  who  cannot  hear;  who  suffers 
from  digestive  disturbances  or  infectious  diseases  con- 
tracted in  infancy.  Children  who  come  to  school  are 
found  to  suffer  from  sense  and  other  defects,  which  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  medical  school  inspector  and  the  nurse 
to  detect  and  refer  to  the  parent  and  family  physician 
and  to  the  family  dentist  before  the  child  can  do  even 
the  average  of  good  work. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  for  us  to  have  a  school 
organization  for  health,  a  school  doctor  who  shall  be  a 
medical  school  inspector  for  health,  and  who  at  the  same 
time  shall  be  the  health  officer  of  his  school  district; 
a  school  dentist,  quite  as  important  as  the  school  doctor, 
who  shall  have  his  chair  and  equipment  in  the  school, 
and  whose  duty  it  shall  be,  as  far  as  possible,  to  keep 
fillings  out  of  the  teeth  of  children,  to  keep  sound  teeth 
in  children's  mouths,  to  do  temporary  fillings  for  all 
children  in  need  of  them;  and  finally  a  school  nurse, 
whose  business  it  shall  be,  not  to  run  a  second-rate 
dispensary  in  the  school  by  attending  to  cuts,  bruises, 
and  verminous  heads;  but  who,  as  teacher  nurse,  shall 
bring  the  school  and  the  home  into  closer  contact;  who 
shall  teach  the  mother  how  to  care  for  her  child;  who, 
when  the  doctor  says  glasses  are  required  for  Johnnie, 
or  Mary's  ears  need  treatment,  or  that  Lizzie's  teeth  need 
to  have  the  moss  removed  from  them  and  some  tempo- 
rary fillings  put  in,  will  go  to  the  home  and  explain  to 
the  mother  the  needs  of  her  children,  and  when  necessary 
take  the  child  to  the  doctor  or  dentist  and  actually  see 
that  the  necessary  work  is  done. 

That  the  school  nurse  may  become  better  acquainted 
with  the  babies  and  young  children  in  her  school  district, 
let  us  establish  milk  stations  in  the  schools  during  the 
long  summer  vacation,  where  she  as  visiting  nurse  to 


THE   PUBLIC   HEALTH    OFFICE  291 

the  babies  of  the  district  may  learn  the  needs  of  the 
school  circle  in  which  she  is  doing  her  work.  In  each 
group  of  schools  there  will  have  to  be  established,  under 
the  care  of  a  trained  psychologist,  a  special  psychological 
laboratory,  for  the  study  of  all  backward,  deficient,  and 
defective  children,  so  that  there  may  be  developed  from 
this  beginning  a  laboratory  of  hygiene  and  psychology 
for  the  study  of  all  well  children.  We  are  now  making 
our  sick  children,  our  deficients,  and  defectives,  and  we 
must,  of  course,  first  establish  a  laboratory  for  the  study 
of  those  we  have  made.  Later,  as  we  stop  developing 
defectives,  we  may  then  direct  our  efforts  toward  the 
study  of  those  children  who  exhibit  but  slight  departures 
from  the  normal.  As  a  still  later  piece  of  work  we  will 
have  to  establish  and  develop  in  connection  with  the 
health  departments  a  laboratory  for  the  inspection,  and 
finally  for  the  study  of  the  physical  and  sense  values 
of  all  the  children  who  apply  for  permission  to  work. 
Let  us  make  not  only  the  birth  and  pedagogical  record 
a  requisite  for  the  child  to  go  to  work;  but  as  long  as 
we  permit  boys  and  girls  in  the  early  adolescent  period 
to  enter  upon  tasks  which  may  be  somewhat  dangerous 
for  them,  let  us  be  sure  that  physically  and  psychically 
they  are  able  to  measure  up,  as  shown  by  the  instruments 
of  precision,  to  the  work  they  are  to  do. 

At  the  other  end  of  the  scheme  we  are  building  let 
us  provide  a  teacher  nurse,  who,  working  with  the 
health  department,  the  school,  the  hospital  and  various 
private  institutions,  shall  make  the  foundation  of  the 
whole  system  by  carrying  to  the  expectant  mother 
advice  for  herself  and  her  unborn  child;  and  when  the 
child  comes  into  the  world,  let  the  teacher  health  nurse 
be  a  kind  of  new  godmother,  a  health  godmother,  to 
the  infant  in  its  first  five  or  six  years  of  life.  Such  a 


292  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

visiting  health  nurse  for  infancy  would  carry  to  the 
mother  a  knowledge  of  the  new  hygiene  of  the  child; 
she  would  tell  the  mother  about  feeding  and  clothing, 
bathing  and  sleep;  about  the  care  of  the  mouth  and 
teeth;  the  eyes,  ears,  and  nose,  and  she  would  see  to  it 
that  the  bodies  of  little  children  brought  to  the  school 
nurse  and  school  doctor  were  not  already  stamped  with 
the  marks  of  disease.  Such  a  nurse  would  remove  from 
us  the  shame  that  we  as  a  people  now  permit  our  children 
to  contract  infantile  diseases  in  their  infant  years,  that 
we  may  send  them  to  clinics  and  hospitals,  epil-eptic  col- 
onies and  reform  schools  in  later  life. 

We  have  done  a  great  deal  of  work  to  reform  the 
man;  let  us  do  something  to  form  him.  We  have  had 
a  plan  for  rilling  our  hospitals  and  clinics  with  material ; 
here  is  a  scheme  for  emptying  our  dispensary  waiting 
rooms  and  keeping  our  hospital  beds  for  emergency  pur- 
poses. It  is  a  scheme  by  which  the  school  is  to  become 
the  center  around  which  all  health  activities  revolve. 
The  babies  are  to  grow  up  into  health  with  the  teacher 
nurse  who  takes  them  to  school.  If  their  parents  are 
poor,  let  them  get  milk  and  advice  from  the  milk  station 
in  the  school;  if  their  teeth  need  attention,  let  them  go 
to  the  school  dentist  in  the  school ;  if  they  need  a  doctor 
for  health,  let  them  have  the  advice  of  the  school  doctor, 
who  is  at  the  same  time  the  district  doctor.  Let  the 
school  have  its  attending  health  doctor  to  care  for  the 
health  of  the  children ;  the  attending  school  dentist  to 
preserve  the  teeth  of  the  children;  the  school  nurse  to 
visit  the  homes  and  be  the  handmaiden  for  health  of  the 
doctors.  The  visiting  nurse  for  infancy  and  maternity 
will  teach  the  mother  how  to  care  for  the  infant  she  is 
to  bear.  From  earliest  infancy  until  it  enters  school,  the 
nurse  will  watch  the  child  grow  into  health ;  instruct  the 


THE   PUBLIC   HEALTH    OFFICE  293 

mother  in  its  personal  hygiene  and  teach  the  mother  how 
to  avoid  the  accident  of  disease. 

Let  us  do  all  these  things  now,  and  later  let  us  do 
more  of  the  same  kind  of  preventive  work;  not  only 
because  of  our  greater  sympathy  or  because  of  our  larger 
humanitarianism,  but  also  because  it  is  economically  more 
valuable  to  do  so  here  and  now  than  it  is  to  nurse  the 
sick. 

Dr.  Norton  writes : 

One  does  not  have  to  be  very  old  to  remember  the 
time  when  there  were  no  doctors  of  dental  surgery.  At 
that  time  the  dental  operations  were  performed  by  the 
barber  or  blacksmith,  and  consisted  in  merely  extracting 
the  tooth.  This  procedure  was  known  in  those  days  as 
a  "medicinal  application  of  cold  steel."  These  con- 
ditions would  exist  to-day  were  it  not  for  the  ever  in- 
creasing demand  for  better  care  of  the  teeth,  more  in- 
telligently applied  and  more  skillfully  practiced,  a  better 
acquired  knowledge  intelligently  to  administer  aid  to 
suffering  humanity. 

It  is  through  this  development  that  it  has  become 
generally  known  that  many  ills  of  the  entire  system  are 
directly  traceable  to  dental  lesions.  Going  still  further, 
it  is  considered  in  this  day  and  age  a  disgrace  if  one's 
teeth  are  not  properly  cared  for.  This  being  the  case 
and  the  development  having  been  so  wonderfully  rapid, 
it  is  small  wonder  that  the  men  to  whom  the  knowledge 
of  the  importance  of  this  work  has  come  should  bear  in 
mind  the  child  whose  age  and  whose  environment  make 
it  improbable  for  him  to  realize  the  seriousness  of  his 
first  toothache  and  the  necessity  of  avoiding  it  if  possible. 

It  is  a  fact  that  the  child  at  this  age,  that  is,  primary 
and  grammar  school  age,  or  between  the  ages  of  six  and 
20 


294  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

fourteen,  during  which  time  the  permanent  teeth  erupt, 
is  passing  through  one  of  the  most  important  periods  in 
its  life  and  it  is  especially  necessary  that  every  condition 
be  taken  into  careful  consideration.  The  mouth  is  the 
gateway  by  which  one-third  or  one-half  of  the  disease- 
causing  germs  enter  the  body.  It  is  of  vital  importance 
that  it  be  kept  clean  and  in  a  healthy  condition. 

All  these  facts  were  realized  by  members  of  the  Roch- 
ester Dental  Society  some  thirty  years  ago,  when  they 
established  a  free  dental  dispensary  at  the  Rochester  City 
Hospital  that  people  unable  to  pay  for  dental  services 
might  be  treated  at  this  dispensary  free  of  charge.  This 
was  maintained  by  the  society  with  money  provided  from 
its  treasury,  and  was  carried  on  by  dentists  who  were 
members  of  the  Rochester  Dental  Society  donating  their 
services  and  each  working  his  allotted  half  day. 

The  equipment  of  this  first  dispensary  in  Rochester 
was  very  meager,  consisting  of  a  stand,  a  barber's  chair 
and  what  instruments  each  individual  dentist  saw  fit  to 
take  to  the  infirmary  for  his  own  personal  use. 

This  movement  lasted  for  about  two  years,  at  which 
time  it  went  the  way  of  all  philanthropic  movements, 
which  are  born  too  early  for  the  public  mind  to  receive 
and  which  must  inevitably  fail.  Some  time  after  this 
some  of  the  oldei  members  of  the  society  who  had  in 
mind  this  start  and  its  failure,  but  who  realized  the  im- 
portance of  the  movement  itself,  again  brought  the  mat- 
ter to  the  attention  of  the  society  at  a  meeting,  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  establish  a  dispensary.  It 
was  through  the  efforts  of  this  committee  that  Captain 
Henry  C.  Lomb  of  Rochester  offered  to  equip  a  free 
dental  dispensary  if  the  society  would  maintain  it.  His 
idea  was  to  establish  the  dispensary  in  one  of  the  hos- 
pitals in  the  city.  However,  this  was  found  to  be  im- 


THE   PUBLIC   HEALTH    OFFICE  295 

possible,  owing  to  lack  of  suitable  accommodations,  and, 
upon  invitation,  the  dispensary  was  finally  established  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  Rochester  Public  Health  Asso- 
ciation. A  charter  was  obtained  from  the  New  York 
Board  of  Charities,  and  the  dispensary  formally  opened 
to  the  public  on  Washington's  Birthday,  February  22nd, 
1905.  Twenty-four  members  of  the  society  alternated 
in  taking  charge  of  the  work,  and  at  first  the  dispensary 
was  open  only  two  afternoons  a  week.  Soon,  however, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  open  every  day,  and  Mr.  Lomb 
kindly  consented  to  pay  the  salary  of  one  dentist.  At 
this  time  the  dispensary  being  the  only  one  in  the  city 
and  the  only  place  where  poor  people  could  obtain  den- 
tal services,  it  was  necessary  to  work  for  all  classes ;  but 
soon  it  was  found  necessary  to  alienate  patients  suffer- 
ing from  tuberculosis,  and  Mr.  Lomb  kindly  volunteered 
to  equip  a  dental  infirmary  in  the  municipal  hospital 
where  poor  tuberculous  patients  might  receive  dental 
care.  Thus  it  was  that  the  movement  of  free  dental 
service  to  the  poor  children  of  Rochester  first  started. 
This  was  practically  the  condition  of  our  dispensary 
in  this  city,  when  in  the  fall  of  1909  the  condition  of 
the  teeth  of  the  children  in  our  schools  was  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  school  board  by  the  principal  of 
one  of  our  schools.  Miss  Edith  A.  Scott,  the  principal 
of  No.  14  School  (this  was  the  building  where  the 
social  center  movement  had  begun,  and  Miss  Scott  had 
caught  the  idea),  requested  the  board  of  directors  of  the 
Dental  Society  to  install  a  dental  dispensary  in  her 
school,  assuring  the  society  that  the  board  of  education 
would  cooperate  in  so  far  as  to  allow  the  installation  of 
a  dispensary,  and,  should  the  arrangement  be  found  sat- 
isfactory, to  cooperate  more  materially  in  the  future. 
The  directors  fully  realized  the  importance  of  this  offer, 


296  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

and  decided  to  equip  a  dispensary  in  No.  14  School. 
The  entire  equipment  was  donated  by  the  manufacturers. 
One  manufacturing  company  donated  equipment  to  the 
amount  of  $365,  others  donated  similar  and  less  amounts 
until  an  equipment  valued  at  $1,400  was  installed. 

On  Washington's  Birthday,  1910,  upon  the  fifth  anni- 
versary of  the  opening  of  our  first  dispensary,  the  one 
at  No.  14  School  was  formally  opened  to  the  public. 
As  upon  the  former  occasion,  dentists  alternated  and 
gave  up  their  valuable  time  to  start  the  work.  Forty 
dentists,  one  attending  each  afternoon,  started  this  move- 
ment. Any  one  of  these  forty  dentists  would  gladly 
have  given  the  money  necessary  to  hire  a  substitute, 
but  the  directors  wished  to  interest  as  many  members 
of  the  society  in  the  movement  as  possible,  and  it  was 
surprising  to  note  how  gladly  and  quickly  dentists  vol- 
unteered. One  practitioner,  of  middle  age,  relates  the 
following  incident  which  occurred  on  his  first  day  at 
No.  14: 

A  little  patient  was  placed  in  the  chair  whose  face 
was  so  dirty  that  the  dentist  moistened  a  towel  with 
hot  water  and  soap  and  thoroughly  scrubbed  the  boy's 
face.  Upon  seeing  his  reflection  in  a  hand  glass  which 
was  given  him,  the  little  patient  gasped  and  exclaimed, 
"Gee !"  This  dentist  did  more  good  than  he  realized. 
The  little  patient  had  been  placed  in  the  chair  expecting 
to  be  hurt,  instead  he  met  a  genial  man  in  a  white  coat 
who  washed  his  face.  The  dentist  was  so  much  inter- 
ested in  this  little  patient  that  he  has  watched  the  boy's 
progress  and  has  ascertained  that  through  this  little  fel- 
low's influence,  the  whole  family  are  being  educated 
in  the  care  of  the  teeth.  His  little  sisters  and  brothers 
are  almost  as  enthusiastic  about  keeping  their  teeth 
clean  as  he  is. 


THE   PUBLIC  HEALTH   OFFICE  297 

Of  the  eighteen  little  patients  treated  the  first  week 
four  came  from  the  mentally  deficient  class.  This  is  sig- 
nificant, illustrating  the  fact  that  children  who  are  back- 
ward from  mental  deficiency  or  from  sluggish  brain 
equipment  are  found  to  have  more  or  less  trouble  with 
their  teeth. 

This  dispensary  in  our  public  school  has  been  in  opera- 
tion nearly  a  year,  and  so  far  as  actual  conditions  in  the 
dispensary  are  concerned  they  are  practically  the  same  as 
when  it  was  first  started.  However,  during  this  year 
there  has  been  unusual  and  rapid  progress  in  the  gen- 
eral movement.  Two  months  after  starting  the  dispen- 
sary it  was  deemed  necessary  to  procure  a  dentist  who 
would  be  able  to  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  work 
in  our  dental  dispensaries,  consequently  a  committee  was 
appointed  and  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania was  selected  by  them  for  this  position.  He  has 
devoted  his  entire  time  to  the  work.  Forenoons,  six 
days  in  a  week,  are  given  to  the  work  in  No.  14  School. 
Afternoons  he  is  occupied  at  the  first  dispensary  estab- 
lished. 

In  the  spring  of  1910  a  committee  was  appointed  from 
the  dental  society  to  consult  with  the  board  of  education, 
and,  if  it  met  with  their  approval,  to  arrange  for  a 
series  of  lectures  on  oral  hygiene  to  be  given  to  the  chil- 
dren in  all  the  public  and  parochial  schools.  Dr.  John 
P.  Corley,  of  Sewanee,  Tennessee,  a  member  of  the  Oral 
Hygiene  Committee  of  the  National  Dental  Association, 
was  selected  to  deliver  these  lectures.  He  began  his 
work  on  October  25th,  1910,  and  delivered  from  two 
to  five  lectures  a  day  until  the  evening  of  November 
nth,  at  which  time  the  campaign  of  oral  hygiene  was 
brought  to  its  close  by  a  mass  meeting  held  in  conven- 
tion hall.  Besides  the  general  public  this  mass  meeting 


298  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

was  attended  by  1,200  pupils  from  the  schools.  The 
lectures  given  by  Dr.  Corley  in  the  schools  were  illus- 
trated by  the  stereopticon  and  created  widespread  in- 
terest throughout  the  city.  In  conjunction  with  these 
lectures  the  Dental  Society  distributed  gratuitously  fifty 
thousand  pamphlets  on  care  of  teeth  to  the  school  chil- 
dren. The  expense  of  this  campaign  of  oral  hygiene  in 
the  public  schools  together  with  the  enormous  expense 
of  holding  the  mass  meeting  was  paid  by  private  sub- 
scriptions from  dentists.  During  our  campaign  in  the 
schools,  William  Hodge,  an  actor  who  was  playing  at 
the  Shubert  Theatre  in  Rochester,  upon  being  recalled, 
appeared  before  the  curtain  and  made  an  unusual  offer, 
that  is,  that  he  would  give  $1000  to  the  most  worthy 
cause  in  Rochester,  he  having  lived  in  Rochester  in  his 
early  boyhood  days.  Several  in  the  city  made  application 
for  this  money,  but  it  was  found  that  the  dental  dispen- 
sary and  its  work  in  the  city  was  considered  by  Mr. 
Hodge  and  the  mayor  to  be  the  most  worthy  at  that 
time  and  the  money  was  formally  presented  to  our 
society  by  the  mayor  at  the  mass  meeting.  Such  interest 
was  aroused  in  this  movement  that  during  the  lecture 
campaign  in  our  schools  two  individuals  offered  to  fur- 
nish the  equipment  for  a  dispensary  to  be  opened  in  an- 
other of  our  public  schools. 

It  is  well  known  that  statistics  may  be  had  in  any 
quantity  regarding  the  percentage  of  children  in  school 
to  whom  it  is  necessary  to  administer  dental  aid.  For 
example,  of  500  children  examined  last  May  and  June 
in  New  York  City,  486  were  found  to  have  decayed 
teeth.  In  the  mouths  of  these  500  children  2,397 
first  and  second  molars  were  decayed.  In  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  last  year,  it  was  found  upon  careful  examina- 
tion that  sixty  out  of  every  one  hundred  children  did 


THE   PUBLIC   HEALTH    OFFICE  299 

not  brush  their  teeth  at  all,  and  that  686  out  of  2,375 
needed  dental  treatment.  In  New  York  City  upon  exam- 
ination it  was  found  that  126,000  required  immediate 
attention  by  the  dentist,  and  out  of  500  pupils  taken 
from  different  schools  for  the  purpose  of  statistical  ex- 
amination it  was  found  that  only  14  had  sound  teeth. 

Page  after  page  of  these  statistics  can  be  had,  but 
in  our  experience  here  in  Rochester  it  is  thought  ad- 
visable not  to  compile  statistics  regarding  those  who 
need  dental  attention,  but  to  ascertain  to  what  extent 
the  faulty  dental  conditions  affect  the  general  health 
and  also  the  intellectual  condition  and  advancement  of 
the  child.  To  this  end  that  we  may  be  making  one  step 
toward  solving  this  vital  problem,  experiments  are  now 
under  way  here  in  Rochester,  which  we  hope  will  bear 
fruit.  A  class  of  twenty-five  children  has  been  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  committee  appointed  for  this  investi- 
gation, and  they  have  started  by  placing  the  teeth  of 
these  children  in  perfect  condition.  Careful  and  accurate 
records  of  their  class  work  for  one  year  in  the  schools 
have  been  looked  up,  together  with  careful  and  accurate 
records  of  their  work  under  the  present  healthful  condi- 
tions of  the  mouth.  It  is,  of  course,  understood  that  the 
children  keep  their  teeth  in  perfect  sanitary  condition 
while  these  experiments  are  going  on.  Also,  children 
who  are  not  up  to  the  standard,  that  is,  children  who  are 
suffering  from  adenoids,  the  mentally  deficient,  or  nat- 
urally backward,  et  cetera,  are  excluded  from  this  class. 
It  is  intended  that  the  children  shall  be  examples  of  the 
normal  healthy  child.  Records  after  careful  selection 
and  thorough  care  will  be  kept  for  the  period  of  one 
year.  This  work  has  just  been  started  and  we  believe 
will  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction. 

Men  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  who  have  gone 


300  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

into  this  matter  thoroughly,  realize  that  in  this  regard 
a  vast  field  is  opening  up.  In  New  York,  Dr.  Gulick, 
after  some  investigation,  has  made  the  statement  that 
two  defective  teeth  in  the  mouth  of  a  child  will  retard 
that  child  in  his  studies  six  months. 

In  New  York  City  alone,  should  the  children's  teeth 
be  cared  for  properly,  the  result  in  the  saving  of  money 
would  be  enormous.  Many  million  dollars  would  be 
saved  to  the  municipality.  Briefly  explaining  this  state- 
ment: It  is  generally  known  that  during  the  summer 
months,  it  is  necessary  to  maintain  a  summer  school 
for  the  benefit  of  such  children  as  fail  in  their  spring 
examinations.  The  cost  of  this  summer  school  may  be 
greater  or  less,  according  to  the  number  of  pupils  who 
are  backward.  Therefore,  anything  tending  towards 
the  betterment  of  this  condition  would,  of  course,  neces- 
sarily result  in  a  saving  in  dollars  and  cents. 

That  the  authorities  of  the  state  of  New  York  are 
alive  to  the  gravity  of  this  situation  and  the  necessity 
for  coping  with  this  problem  has  been  demonstrated 
recently  by  the  fact  that  a  department  of  oral  hygiene 
has  been  added  to  the  health  bureau  of  the  state.  Two 
dentists,  Dr.  H.  L.  Wheeler  of  New  York  City  and 
Dr.  W.  A.  White  of  Phelps,  New  York,  a  member  of 
the  Rochester  Dental  Society,  have  been  appointed  and 
will  take  active  charge  of  this  department.  This  is 
the  first  step  to  be  made  in  this  direction  in  the  United 
States.  Quoting  from  the  Dental  Cosmos  of  January, 
1911: 

A  similar  and  preceding  recognition  of  the  dental  hygiene 
movement  was  made  by  the  department  of  public  health  and 
charities  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  which  opened  a  dis- 
pensary for  free  dental  service  to  the  poor  children  of  the 
city  during  the  first  week  in  September  last,  which  dispen- 


THE   PUBLIC   HEALTH    OFFICE  301 

sary  has  been  in  active  and  successful  operation  since  its 
opening,  and  now  maintains  a  staff  of  six  dental  practitioners 
giving  continuous  attention  to  the  service  during  the  full 
working  hours  of  each  day  in  the  week. 

As  a  part  of  the  dispensary  service  plans  are  now  per- 
fected by  which,  immediately  after  the  holiday  recess,  the 
dental  condition  of  fifty  thousand  school  children  in  Phila- 
delphia will  be  examined  and  recorded  by  a  corps  of  volun- 
teer inspectors  recruited  from  the  dental  practitioners  of 
Philadelphia.  The  purpose  of  this  school  inspection  is  not 
only  to  determine  the  existing  condition  of  the  teeth  of  pub- 
lic school  children  of  the  city,  but  to  determine  from  the  rec- 
ords the  most  urgent  cases  requiring  attention  and  to  give 
them  precedence  in  the  order  of  treatment  at  the  free  dental 
dispensary. 

Both  the  New  York  appointment  of  dental  lecturers  and 
the  free  dental  dispensary  in  Philadelphia  are  interesting  as 
being  examples  of  direct  articulation  of  public  dental  service 
with  the  health  departments  of  states  and  municipalities. 

At  the  time  the  oral  hygiene  movement  was  started  in 
this  city,  thirty  years  ago,  laymen  and  dentists  alike  were 
unable  to  grasp  the  importance  of  it.  They  did  not  re- 
alize the  necessity  for  it,  and,  in  fact,  were  not  ready. 
Realizing  that  for  thirty  years  there  has  been  a  con- 
tinued effort  to  bring  the  lay  mind  to  the  proper  under- 
standing of  this  necessity,  we  believe  that  when  con- 
ditions are  such  that  the  city  authorities  realize  what 
it  means  to  the  advancement  of  the  child  in  the  school, 
how  closely  the  health  of  the  child  is  associated  with  its 
mental  advancement,  then  will  the  problem  of  how  to 
manage  and  conduct  the  work  in  connection  with  the 
city  government  be  a  matter  for  consideration.  Until 
then  it  is  better  to  put  all  energy  into  bringing  about 
this  condition. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  IN  THE  RURAL  COMMUNITY 

"Social  center  development  is  the  only  thing  that  will 
take  the  kink  out  of  the  rural  school."  This  statement, 
indicating  the  cordial  attitude  on  the  part  of  rural  school 
men  and  women  toward  this  movement,  was  made  by  a 
county  school  superintendent  at  the  All  Southwestern 
Conference  for  Social  Centers,  held  at  Dallas  last  Febru- 
ary. This  meeting,  the  first  of  its  kind  to  be  called  any- 
where in  this  country,  demonstrated  a  unanimous  deter- 
mination to  promote  the  focusing  of  community  activi- 
ties in  and  through  the  school  social  center  as  the  best 
practical  method  of  meeting  the  complex  and  difficult 
"country  life  problem."  That  conference  was  arranged 
by  Charles  W.  Holman,  of  Dallas,  Texas,  who,  in  the 
following  paper,  sets  forth  present  rural  conditions  and 
their  need: 

Within  the  limits  of  this  report  an  intimate  study  of 
the  environments  and  social  forces  in  the  country  life 
of  the  whole  nation  is  both  impracticable  and  impossible. 
For  this  reason  the  writer  has  chosen  the  rural  problems 
of  the  southwest  as  the  problems  most  nearly  representa- 
tive of  the  whole  nation.  In  this  section  already  definite 
movements  are  on  foot  for  the  organization  and  the  de- 
velopment of  the  social  impulse. 

Than  the  southwest  no  more  interesting  field  can 

302 


THE   RURAL   SOCIAL   CENTER  303 

be  found.  Its  development  is  one  of  the  remarkable 
features  of  a  remarkable  decade.  Its  vast  territory  is 
being  filled  rapidly  by  homeseekers  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  The  farmer  from  Washington  state  has  a 
neighbor  from  Georgia,  and  down  the  road  is  a  family 
from  Maine.  The  country  school  is  taught  by  a  young 
lady  from  Kansas,  and  the  circuit  rider  came  from 
Tennessee.  Here  is  a  small  German  colony,  there  is  a 
group  of  Scandinavians.  North  and  south  Europeans 
are  pouring  into  Texas  through  the  Galveston  gateway. 
Louisiana  French  are  coming  across  the  Sabine.  Ameri- 
canized Europeans  and  natives  are  moving  from  the 
Central  States  onto  the  fertile  farms  of  the  southwest. 
Everywhere  is  the  spirit  of  change — the  invisible  battle 
of  conflicting  farming  methods,  religious  ideas,  political 
creeds,  racial  prejudices.  The  older  southern  type  of 
southwestern  settlers  is  giving  way  before  the  constant 
stream  of  new  bloods,  and  more  settled  ideas  of  life  are 
being  disturbed  by  the  constant  friction  of  ideas  from 
other  sections  and  nations.  The  children  of  the  south- 
west have  a  widely  scattered  ancestry,  and  will  inherit 
the  traits  and  sentiments  of  a  hundred  nationalities, 
modified  by  contact  and  changed  environment. 

This  modern  migration  is  different  from  former  set- 
tlements. It  is  accompanied  by  phenomenal  material 
progress.  A  ranch  is  opened  for  settlement.  Buyers 
come  by  the  trainload,  and  a  town  is  started  in  a  day. 
In  three  years  this  ranch  is  cut  into  small  farms  and  is 
being  cultivated  by  farmers.  The  same  diversity  of 
settlers  continues.  The  new  farmers  rapidly  install  rural 
telephones,  erect  churches  and  schoolhouses,  and  respond 
readily  to  the  demand  for  better  roads. 

Such  is  the  problem  as  presented  to-day.  Within  ten 
years  the  southwest  will  have  no  more  vacant  spots. 


304  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

Within  fifteen  years  the  country  will  have  taken  on  a 
mellowness,  and  will  have  the  general  characteristics  of 
almost  any  section  of  the  United  States  and  will  have 
preserved  some  of  the  traits  of  all. 

In  the  rush  and  in  the  struggle  for  homes,  our  farmer 
folk  have  left  themselves  poverty-stricken  in  the  matter 
of  intellectual  occupation,  outside  the  daily  work,  and 
have  left  no  provision  for  satisfaction  of  the  social  in- 
stinct. Another  important  fact  in  this  connection  must 
not  be  overlooked :  The  best,  rather  the  most  energetic, 
talent  of  the  country  has  in  all  communities  been  drawn 
irresistibly  to  the  towns  and  cities.  This  has  further 
impoverished  the  life  of  the  country  neighborhoods  and 
made  it  harder  for  spontaneous  popular  effort  to  gain 
strength. 

But  in  contrast  to  this  rather  unpromising  material 
for  social  work,  comes  the  hopeful  fact  that  the  country 
people  of  the  southwest  are  hungry  for  intellectual  train- 
ing and  cultural  influences ;  moreover,  they  are  respond- 
ing to  leadership,  wherever  that  leadership  is  based  upon 
the  sound  doctrine  of  the  people  keeping  busy  solving 
their  own  problems. 

Briefly,  then,  there  is  need  for  social  centers  in  the 
country  life  of  the  southwest,  as  of  other  parts,  to  blend 
the  spirits  of  the  people  into  harmony,  to  satisfy  the 
social  instinct,  to  stimulate  the  intellectual  life  and  to 
inculcate  true  ideals  of  democratic  government. 

The  state  of  Oklahoma  is  doing  a  wonderful  work  in 
organizing  its  boys  and  girls  and  in  its  farmers'  insti- 
tute work.  The  various  civic  improvement  organiza- 
tions of  Texas  have  taken  up  the  social  center  movement, 
and  this  fall  practically  every  teachers'  institute  in  Texas 
and  every  convention  is  devoting  time  to  discussion  of 
the  social  center  idea. 


THE  RURAL  SOCIAL  CENTER      305 

So  great  is  the  need  for  organization  of  country  com- 
munities that  Farm  and  Ranch,  the  leading  agricultural 
journal  of  the  south,  has  actively  agitated  the  need 
through  its  columns  for  the  last  twelve  months  and  de- 
votes all  the  time  of  one  of  its  editors  to  social  center 
propaganda.  This  journal  has  opened  its  columns  to  a 
free  and  full  discussion  and  promulgation  of  plans.  It 
has  also  made  it  possible  for  every  community  in  the 
southwest  to  obtain  libraries. 

Opinion  is  unanimous  that  the  schoolhouse  is  the  nat- 
ural place  for  the  meeting  of  all  the  people,  and  agita- 
tion is  active  to  see  that  new  school  buildings  shall  be 
located  with  a  view  to  more  convenient  access  by  both 
pupils  and  parents. 

Summarized,  we  find  present-day  environments  of  the 
farmer  in  the  southwest  contain  these  serious  handi- 
caps: 

1.  The  majority  of  the  southwest's  rural  population 
supports  by  taxation  a  double  system  of  free  schools — 
white  and  negro — and  this  burden  is  borne,  in  major 
part,  by  the  whites.     There  are  too  many  one-teacher 
schools.     Schoolhouses  are  unfortunately  located,  poorly 
equipped     and     meagerly     supported.       Teachers     are 
underpaid,  and  prejudice  is  a  serious  handicap  to  the 
teacher. 

2.  Farmers'  organizations  lack  virility.     Their  mem- 
bership is  limited  to  a  very  small  percentage  of  actual 
farmers. 

3.  In  many  sections  renters  are  supplanting  the  stur- 
dier types  of  land  owners.    These  renters  are,  necessar- 
ily, of  a  lower  economic  order,  and  cannot  give  ready 
response  to  popular  movements. 

4.  Farm  families  are  geographically  isolated,  and  bad 
wagon  roads  make  communication  at  times  difficult. 


3o6  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

5.  There  is  a  general  negligence  of  sanitation  for  pre- 
vention of  diseases  and  purity  of  water  supply.  Beau- 
tifying home  and  school  grounds  and  public  roads  is  not 
given  proper  attention.  And  there  is  often  a  plentiful 
lack  of  good  literature  within  the  home. 

Other  causes  could  be  brought  to  mind,  but  are  not 
necessary  for  the  purposes  of  this  paper. 

Our  imperfect  school  system  has  not  yet  eliminated 
from  the  country  the  illiterate  element;  neither  has  it 
met  the  cultural  or  technical  needs  of  country  boys  and 
girls.  Instruction  in  the  small  country  school  is  often  a 
mere  matter  of  memory  lessons.  Bad  locations  of  school 
buildings  have  tended  further  to  isolate  farmers,  by  mak- 
ing it  hard  for  them  to  get  together  in  the  community 
schoolhouses. 

In  the  matter  of  his  organizations,  the  farmer's  weak- 
ness engenders  in  him  a  failure  to  appreciate  the  mutual 
dependence  of  all  who  work  on  the  farm;  and  renders 
the  one  most  important  class  in  America  almost  impo- 
tent and  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  set  the  prices  on  the 
world's  goods.  This  means  economic  debility. 

As  renters  increase  in  a  community,  enthusiasm  de- 
clines ;  and  initiative  in  personal  or  public  endeavor  loses 
the  "name  of  action." 

Isolation,  accentuated  by  bad  roads,  et  cetera,  has 
these  good  and  bad  results :  Farmers  tend  to  become 
both  extremely  radical  and  absurdly  conservative,  the 
two  predispositions  being  often  paradoxically  present  in 
the  same  character.  The  farmer's  point  of  view  tends  to 
become  limited  to  his  vocation  and  the  world  repre- 
sented by  his  neighborhood.  This  very  isolation,  how- 
ever, develops  also  a  rugged  independence,  a  sturdy  self- 
reliance,  and  a  type  of  men  and  women  who  think  deeply 
and  weigh  well  all  questions  within  their  range. 


THE   RURAL   SOCIAL  CENTER  307 

We  must  evolve  a  cooperative  democracy,  with  the  so- 
cial supplanting  the  individual  spirit. 

To  do  this  we  must  generate  enthusiasm  and  develop 
leadership  in  the  country.  Our  progress  will  be  the 
advance  of  a  people  alive  to  its  needs  and  consciously 
doing  the  things  necessary  for  its  evolution.  We  require 
.a  vital  stimulus  and  dependable  leaders. 

We  have  referred  to  the  intense  individualistic  spirit 
of  the  countryman.  Under  pioneer  conditions  that  spirit 
was  natural  and  normal.  The  tiller  of  the  soil  was  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  man  who  was  sufficient  unto 
himself.  With  settlement  in  an  advanced  stage,  how- 
ever, with  small  farms,  with  practically  all  available 
lands  yielding  to  the  husbandman,  with  agriculture  mani- 
festing a  constant  tendency  toward  specialized  effort,  it 
becomes  more  and  more  necessary  for  the  farmer  to  lay 
aside  his  early  attitude  and  work  in  harness  for  the  so- 
cial good.  Such  a  spirit  as  was  to  be  praised  in  1800 
is  abnormal  and  out  of  harmony  in  1910.  Yet,  is  it 
hard  to  find  countrymen,  working  with  the  tools  of 
modern  civilization,  living  in  the  thoughts  of  a  time 
that  has  gone?  Can  these  men  readjust  their  rela- 
tion to  organized  society?  Can  they  interpret  this 
readjustment  to  mean  that  the  highest  form  of  indi- 
vidualism finds  its  completest  expression  in  social  ex- 
change ? 

Forces  are  consciously  at  work  transforming  the  pres- 
ent agricultural  class.  As  an  indication,  in  Texas,  a  cam- 
paign is  being  prosecuted  for  creation  of  a  special  county 
board  of  education,  thereby  relieving  the  already  over- 
burdened commissioners'  court;  and  for  establishment  of 
country  high  schools,  in  order  to  give  boys  and  girls 
higher  educational  advantages  right  at  their  own  doors. 
Another  educational  effort  is  to  draw  into  the  office  of 


308  THE   SOCIAL  CENTER 

county  superintendent  a  man  fitted  for  upbuilding  the 
county  school  system. 

While  farmers'  organizations  are  not  always  of  long 
life,  and  usually  have  quickly  alternating  high  and  low 
tides  of  strength  and  influence,  the  never-ceasing  at- 
tempts at  cooperative  efforts  foretell  a  day  when  some 
giant  movement  will  sweep  the  country  and  enable  the 
farmer  to  voice  a  determining  word  concerning  the 
prices  of  farm  commodities.  Another  important  point 
to  notice  is  that  almost  every  strong  farmers'  organiza- 
tion admits  women  to  full  membership  privileges,  and 
entitles  them  to  hold  office. 

We  are  modifying  isolation  by  permanent  wagon 
roads,  rural  telephones,  free  mail  delivery,  trolley  cars 
and  automobiles.  Active  agencies  for  diminishing  the 
effect  of  distance  have  already  accomplished  marvels. 
The  next  ten  years  shall  witness  miracles.  But,  for 
the  farm  to  fulfill  its  mission,  country  people  must  fed- 
erate the  social  forces  already  at  work. 

The  social  center  for  the  southwest  was  first  voiced 
by  Mrs.  Maggie  W.  Barry,  chairman  of  the  educational 
committee  of  the  Texas  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs, 
who,  at  the  Denison  meeting  of  that  body,  mentioned 
the  good  accomplished  by  the  Rochester  centers,  and 
suggested  that  the  clubs  take  up  the  idea  in  the 
southwest.  This  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  the  1910 
meeting  in  San  Antonio  devoted  an  important  part 
of  its  program  to  discussing  the  feasibility  of  the 
idea. 

A  lecturer  has  been  sent  to  every  teachers'  institute 
that  could  be  reached  in  Texas  last  fall  and  this  winter. 
The  writer  had  the  pleasure  of  explaining  the  idea  to 
the  Oklahoma  State  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  and 
having  them  endorse  and  take  up  active  agitation,  also 


THE   RURAL   SOCIAL   CENTER  309 

to  the  Texas  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  meeting  at 
San  Antonio. 

In  this  way  active  agitation  has  made  the  name  social 
center  familiar  in  three  states.  It  is  resulting  in  prom- 
inent educators  and  community  leaders  readjusting  their 
programs  of  community  organization,  and  in  trying  out 
plans  of  work  in  some  communities.  The  University  of 
Texas  has  come  to  recognize  the  practicability  of  the  so- 
cial center  idea,  and  is  rendering  invaluable  assistance  to 
the  movement  by  its  organized  extension  work. 

The  social  center  problem  in  rural  sections  divides 
into  two  logical  parts :  first,  the  small  farming  town, 
surrounded  by  a  dense  farm  population ;  and,  second,  the 
isolated  neighborhood,  that  must  depend  upon  its  own 
resources.  We  will  deal  first  with  the  latter : 

The  initial  requirement  will  be  leadership.  It  will 
take  a  man  and  a  woman.  Two  are  enough  to  start 
with.  Their  qualities  of  leadership  must  consist  of  broad 
ideals,  untiring  energy,  patience,  tact,  limiting  their  guid- 
ance only  to  the  point  where  people  think  for  themselves, 
yet  ever  keeping  the  people  alive  to  this  point.  It  will 
require  constant  endeavor,  and  they  must  be  always  "on 
the  job."  The  two  can  work  wonders  with  any  isolated 
community. 

If  the  community  is  split  by  sect,  party  or  family  dis- 
putes, the  task  will  be  harder  than  if  mere  apathy  pre- 
vails. If  the  people  are  conscious  of  their  social  need, 
and  are  ready  to  act  with  competent  leaders,  the  task  will 
be  easy.  Organization  is  not  troublesome,  enthusiasm  is 
not  hard  to  generate;  but  keeping  lighted  the  fires  of 
social  progress  is  difficult. 

To  do  this  the  leaders  must  find  a  social  magnet — 
a  something  that  will  center  and  hold  the  interest  of 
the  people  in  the  country  school.  This  something  must 
21 


310  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

be  material  and  form  the  nucleus  for  the  social  center 
institution.  The  almost  unanimous  opinion  of  workers 
is  that  the  community  library,  placed  in  the  country 
school,  fulfills  this  need.  It  will  attract  until  it  takes 
its  rightful  place  among  the  other  institutions  which 
will  compose  the  social  center. 

This  man  and  this  woman  will  find  as  their  valuable 
aids  the  secretary  of  the  business  men's  organization 
in  the  town  to  which  they  are  tributary,  the  local  min- 
ister, the  school  teacher,  the  county  superintendent,  the 
government  demonstration  agent,  and  always  a  few  en- 
terprising men  and  women  who  appreciate  the  motive 
and  the  great  results  bound  to  accrue. 

If  the  school  building  is  antedated,  the  best  way  to 
bring  the  tax  payers'  attention  to  this  fact  is  by  starting 
a  campaign  for  a  school  library.  This  focuses  attention 
upon  the  school.  Once  the  library  is  installed,  public 
interest  can  be  aroused  by  schoolhouse  meetings  for  the 
discussion  of  a  special  bond  issue  to  build  a  new  and 
suitable  structure  to  house  children  and  books.  A  little 
diplomacy  will  quell  the  opposition  of  those  who  oppose 
a  new  school  building.  Enthusiasm  started  among  the 
children  will  soon  reach  the  necessary  fever  heat  to  pass 
the  proposition  through  the  ballot  box.  Care,  now,  should 
be  taken  to  make  the  school  building  not  only  modern  but 
one  that  can  be  utilized  by  a  community  of  much  larger 
growth.  If  possible,  a  separate  room  should  be  fitted 
out  for  library  and  reading  room. 

With  an  attractive  school  building,  and  a  helpful 
library,  federation  of  the  community  becomes  a  much 
simpler  proposition.  The  school  will  be  the  natural 
meeting  place  for  the  branch  of  the  farmers'  union,  the 
boys'  corn  club,  and  the  Friday  night  "literary."  It  is 
logical  and  natural  for  the  teacher  and  the  government 


THE   RURAL   SOCIAL   CENTER  311 

agent  to  organize  a  school  and  home  garden  association 
among  the  boys  and  girls.  The  fundamental  idea  of  this 
association  will  be  to  make  outside  surroundings  of 
country  life  as  attractive  as  possible.  Beautifying  of 
home  and  school  grounds  will  result  in  beautifying  of 
home  and  school  thoughts.  / 

The  woman  leader  will  organize  cooking  and  sewing         ) 
societies,   and   a  mothers'   club.     The  man   leader   will      \\( 
organize  for  better  roads  and  buildings  among  the  men.         A 
These  interests  will  unite  in  parent-teacher  and  in  home 
and  school  clubs.    We  have  presented  here  every  needed 
factor  to  awaken   this   community.     The   next   step   is 
coordinating  these  organizations  for  civic  betterment. 

A  schedule  can  be  so  arranged  that  the  school  build- 
ing will  be  in  use  five  nights  out  of  the  week  by  sep- 
arate organizations,  and  one  night  out  of  the  week  by 
everybody  in  the  neighborhood.  Plans  for  bringing  these 
associations  into  harmony  with  each  other  and  quicken- 
ing the  life  of  the  people  are  unlimited.  For  instance, 
the  girls'  clubs  could  entertain  the  boys'  corn  clubs. 
The  home  and  school  garden  association  could  give  an 
open  program,  and  its  members  could  tell  their  parents 
how  to  make  homes  more  attractive  for  children.  The 
farmers'  union  could  hold  its  open  meetings  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  get  the  non-members  interested  in  the  work 
the  union  is  trying  to  accomplish. 

For  discussion  at  every  public  meeting  should  be 
themes  interesting  to  the  local  community.  Holders  of 
public  offices  should  be  invited  to  give  their  answers 
to  questions  affecting  the  public  welfare;  and  these  repre- 
sentatives should  be  thoroughly  grilled  concerning  their 
positions  on  issues  wherein  they  voted  contrary  to  the 
will  of  their  constituents.  True  democracy  and  inde- 
pendent, positive  thought  should  be  encouraged.  The 


312  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

social  center  is  to  be  everybody's  meeting  place  and 
everybody's  forum.  Speakers  can  always  be  secured  for 
the  asking;  and  the  secretary  of  the  business  men  in 
the  next  town  will  gladly  send  out  authorities  on  farm 
subjects  to  address  the  enterprising  community.  In 
such  a  community  these  speakers  will  find  eager,  willing 
auditors,  earnest,  intelligent  men  and  women,  who  will 
fill  the  house  to  the  doors.  But  these  same  listeners  will 
follow  the  speaker  with  thoughtful  discussion  of  his 
theme  and  he  will  probably  find  himself  in  the  witness 
chair  before  the  end  of  the  evening.  Who  can  doubt 
the  benefit  of  this  kind  of  community  organization  ? 

In  the  small  farming  town,  where  almost  everyone  is 
directly  interested  in  agriculture,  the  social  center  will 
flourish,  because  it  fills  a  vital  deficiency.  Such  a  town 
has  a  serious  question  to  answer  in  "What  shall  we  do 
for  our  boys  and  girls,  to  keep  them  off  the  streets,  and 
actively  engaged  in  something  that  will  be  for  their 
own  good,  yet  attract  them?" 

Two  serious  drawbacks  to  small  town  life  are  found 
in  the  attitude  of  the  commercial  club,  and  the  women's 
clubs.  The  one  desires  to  exploit  its  town  to  bring  in 
industries;  the  other  is  too  liable  to  waste  energy  and 
money  on  idealistic  ventures  of  no  practical  benefit. 

It  will  be  necessary  for  the  commercial  club  to  enroll 
the  farmers  of  the  open  country;  and  for  the  town 
women  to  do  the  same  with  their  country  sisters.  If 
this  is  not  always  possible  or  practicable,  the  women!s 
clubs  and  the  commercial  club  can  find  means  to  draw 
the  farm  population  to  the  town  meetings. 

A  library  can  be  installed,  with  a  reading  room  open 
night  and  day.  Boys  can  be  enrolled  in  athletic  classes 
by  the  volunteer  work  of  young  graduates,  who  went  in 
for  athletics  at  college.  Young  women,  returned  from 


THE   RURAL   SOCIAL   CENTER  313 

college — to  fold  their  hands  at  home  and  idle  until  they 
are  married  off — can  find  useful  employment  under  this 
plan  by  becoming  auxiliaries  to  the  teaching  force,  and. 
aids  at  the  open  meetings.  Such  a  town  could  support 
a  lyceum,  supplemented  by  free  lectures.  Open  evenings 
can  be  made  so  attractive  that  they  will  always  draw 
crowds.  A  scheme  of  organization  parallel  to  that  in 
the  isolated  community  can  be  used  here. 

The  success  of  the  Hesperia  movement  warrants  our 
firm  belief  in  social  centers  for  the  southwest.  Farmers- 
ville,  Piano,  Celeste,  Troupe,  Normanna,  and  other  small 
towns  of  Texas  have  started  this  work.  A  number  of 
isolated  communities  have  consciously  gone  to  work  on 
definite  lines  of  advancement. 

Knowledge  of  conditions  leads  the  writer  to  believe 
that  the  library  idea  is  the  one  which  will  be  most  quickly 
responded  to  by  the  people.  This  is  undoubtedly  as  great 
a  need  as  any  other.  Meeting  it  will  arouse  the  people 
to  appreciation  of  the  value  of  cooperation.  Through 
the  efforts  of  Farm  and  Ranch,  one  hundred  communi- 
ties have  already  adopted  the  library  plan.  The  senti- 
ment is  growing.  Especially  does  the  library  plan  appeal 
to  the  isolated  community.  It  is  necessary  to  agitate  for 
more  libraries  in  the  southwest,  as  a  first  means  of  cre- 
ating social  centers. 

In  concluding,  the  writer  wishes  again  to  say,  that  the 
social  forces  at  work  in  country  life  will  make  the  farmer 
of  the  future  a  very  different  being  from  the  farmer  of 
to-day.  He  further  predicts  a  spread  of  the  social  center 
wave,  and  its  adoption  over  the  whole  country;  perhaps 
not  in  name,  but  certainly  with  the  same  idea.  From 
that  getting  together  of  the  people  will  result: 

1.  A  growing  spirit  of  fraternalism. 

2.  A  quickened  interest  in  public  welfare. 


314  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

3.  A    saner,   better-balanced  manhood   and    woman- 
hood, inspired  by  truly  democratic  ideals. 

4.  Ultimate  solution  of  the  difficult  question  of  hold- 
ing farm  population  on  the  farms,  by  making  country 
life   so   attractive  that  its  possibilities   will   satisfy  the 
normal  instincts  of  the  ambitious  man  and  woman. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE  SOCIAL  CENTER  AND  THE  UNIVERSITY 

The  Social  Center  is  related  to  the  University  in  two 
ways.  It  furnishes  the  means  wherein  and  where- 
through the  college  or  university  graduate  may  express 
the  civic  and  social  impulse  he  has  received.  And  it  is 
the  means  through  which  the  citizens,  by  neighborhoods, 
may  continually  take  advantage  of  the  resources  to  which 
they  have  a  right  as  owners  of  a  university. 

"It  must  be  admitted,  to  our  shame,"  says  Woodrow 
Wilson,  "that  college  men  have  not  borne  a  very  active 
relationship  to  public  life  in  this  country  in  the  past." 
What  is  the  reason  for  this?  Chiefly,  perhaps,  the  rea- 
son is  that  the  civic  spirit  which  the  university  fosters 
in  the  student  is  rational  and  scientific,  that  is,  it  is 
political,  rather  than  partisan.  In  the  past  the  college  or 
university  graduate  has  had  practically  no  opportunity 
to  participate  in  political  affairs  except  by  giving  up  his 
political  independence,  coming  to  belong  to  a  party,  put- 
ting in  place  of  open-eyed,  unbiased  investigation  the  ac- 
ceptance of  a  platform  or  creed.  The  non-partisan,  or 
rather  super-partisan,  civic  impulse  of  the  university 
graduate  has  had  no  sub-partisan  political  machinery 
through  which  it  might  become  effective.  The  social 
center,  with  its  basis  in  the  single  all-inclusive  political 
organization — the  voting  body  self-organized  into  a  de- 
liberative body — presents  an  opportunity  for  political  par- 

3'5 


316  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

ticipation  which  is  not  out  of  harmony  with  the  university 
impulse.  The  social  center  furnishes  the  means  by  which 
the  college  or  university  graduate  may,  as  a  citizen,  "get 
the  enthusiasm  of  things  to  be  done."  This  is  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  common  political  organization  which  is 
the  basis  of  the  social  center,  a  different  and  very  much 
finer  enthusiasm  than  that  of  any  partisan  organization. 
But,  while  the  value  of  the  social  center  as  the  ma- 
chinery through  which  the  civic  impulse  of  the  university 
may  be  expressed  by  the  participation  of  the  graduate  is 
of  the  highest  importance,  the  value  of  this  institution 
as  the  means  whereby  the  social,  fellowship  impulse  of 
the  university  may  be  conserved  and  democratized  is  also 
very  important.  This  spirit  of  "good  fellows  together" 
of  undergraduate  life  has  tended  to  find  its  expression 
among  college  and  university  men  after  their  graduation 
in  the  establishment  of  exclusive  fellowships,  university 
clubs,  et  cetera.  For  even  the  small  percentage  of  gradu- 
ates who  become  members  of  such  organizations,  they 
fail  entirely  to  satisfy  the  larger  fellowship  impulse. 
Now  the  social  center  furnishes  in  the  local  community 
to  which  the  man  or  woman  goes  from  the  university 
not  only  the  most  effective  machinery  for  political  par- 
ticipation, but  also  the  opportunity  for  the  expression  of 
the  largest  and  finest  social  impulse  which  university  life 
has  awakened  and  fostered.  The  social  impulse,  the  group 
spirit,  is  a  by-product  of  student  association  in  university 
or  college.  Of  the  "fraternity"  organizations  within  the 
university  or  college,  the  awakening  of  this  impulse,  the 
development  of  this  spirit,  is  the  chief  object.  If  the 
little  artificial  "fraternity"  organization  does  not  serve 
as  a  training  place  of  the  fraternal  spirit  which  is  to  find 
its  true  expression  in  the  common  life  of  society,  then 
the  undergraduate  "fraternity"  has  no  excuse  for  exist- 


THE  LOCAL  UNIVERSITY   CENTER         317 

ence,  at  any  rate  in  a  publicly  supported  institution.  The 
social  center  in  each  community  is  the  local  chapter 
house  of  the  all-inclusive  American  fraternity,  for  which 
every  exclusive  "fraternity"  organization  is,  of  right,  an 
artificial  fostering  school. 

The  above  consideration  of  the  social  center  in  its  re- 
lation to  the  university  or  college  applies  equally  to  the 
private  or  public  institution  of  high  education.  The  fol- 
lowing, and  even  more  important,  consideration  applies 
to  the  social  center  in  its  relation  to  the  state  university. 
One  may  not  say  that — what  the  social  center  is  to  the 
neighborhood  the  state  university  is  to  the  common- 
wealth ;  because  the  state  university  is  not  the  civic  head- 
quarters :  the  state  house  or  capitol  is  that.  But  where, 
as  in  Wisconsin,  and  now  in  Kansas  and  other  states, 
the  university  is  conceived  of,  not  as  a  shrine  wherein 
the  lamp  of  knowledge,  kept  ever  burning,  is  attended 
by  devotees  of  abstract  truth  who  gather  there,  but  as 
a  light  and  power  plant  serving  all  the  state,  the  social 
center  in  each  neighborhood  becomes  the  place  of  con- 
stant connection  of  each  local  community  with  the  cen- 
tral institution.  The  system  through  which  the  larger 
resources  of  the  university  are  made  available  for  in- 
dividuals and  groups  in  the  local  communities  is  known 
in  Wisconsin  and  in  the  other  states  in  which  Wisconsin's 
method  is  being  followed  as  the  University  Extension 
Division.  It  is  through  the  University  Extension  Divi- 
sion that  the  state  becomes  the  campus  of  the  uni- 
versity. 

The  remarkable  development  of  University  Extension 
in  Wisconsin  has  been  very  largely  due  to  the  clear  vision 
and  practical  engineering  skill  of  Dr.  Louis  E.  Reber, 
Dean  of  the  Extension  Division.  Dr.  Reber  here  sets 
forth  the  program  of  increased  University  Extension 


3i8  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

service  which  is  made  possible  through  local  social  center 
organization. 

The  state  university  is  a  public  service  corporation. 
It  is  supported  by  the  public,  presumably  for  the  public. 
Until  within  comparatively  recent  years,  few  questions 
have  been  asked  as  to  the  quality  and  comprehensiveness 
of  the  service  offered  by  the  university  to  this  constitu- 
ency, but  the  time  has  arrived  when  not  only  educators, 
but  intelligent  laymen,  including  both  employer  and  em- 
ployed, are  asking  to  what  degree  the  relation  of  the 
people  as  a  whole  to  the  educational  system  has  been 
recognized  either  in  the  construction  of  its  curriculum 
or  in  the  dissemination  of  its  benefits. 

What  proportion  of  the  young  folk  who  become  high 
school  students  are  served  in  future  years  by  the  uni- 
versity? What  proportion  of  those  who  remain  in 
school  for  elementary  training  only  reap  more  than  the 
most  meager  benefits  from  our  so-called  popular  edu- 
cation ? 

The  high  average  percentage  of  illiteracy  in  the  United 
States,  the  low  comparative  degree  of  efficiency  in  the 
industries,  and  the  avidity  with  which  opportunities  for 
further  education  are  embraced  by  persons  who  have 
completed  their  formal  education,  all  point  to  a  fault 
in  the  existing  system  for  which  there  is  at  present  no 
generally  adopted  remedy. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  shortcomings  of 
our  public  education,  nor  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  fig- 
ures relating  to  school  attendance  would  change  greatly 
for  the  better  if  the  value  of  training  for  efficiency  were 
recognized  in  our  public  schools.  The  awakening  to 
the  need  of  a  thoroughly  reorganized  system  of  educa- 
tion is  quite  general,  and  the  time  is  doubtless  not  far 


THE  LOCAL   UNIVERSITY   CENTER         319 

distant  when  the  work  of  the  schools  will  be  so  differ- 
entiated, after  the  earliest  grades,  as  to  offer  equal  op- 
portunities for  effective  training  to  the  future  artisan 
and  to  the  future  professional  man.  In  the  meantime, 
the  stability  of  our  institutions  is  threatened  by  the  in- 
creasing number  of  the  uneducated  or  the  helplessly  edu- 
cated who  crowd  the  large  cities,  and  drift  from  place 
to  place  through  the  country. 

Reorganized  methods  in  the  common  schools,  continu- 
ation schools,  trade  schools,  and  apprenticeship  courses 
are  all  directed  toward  provision  of  the  needed  remedy, 
but  under  present  conditions  are  sorely  inadequate  to 
meet  the  situation.  In  this  field,  then,  university  exten- 
sion may  find  a  large  usefulness. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  a  policy  which 
carries  the  university  to  these  people  who  cannot  come 
to  it.  A  measure  presenting  such  immense  possibilities 
of  usefulness  would  seem  to  belong  as  an  organic  part 
to  the  state  educational  system.  The  work  requires  as- 
sured and  liberal  support  in  order  to  secure  permanence 
of  establishment  and  growth,  and  its  central  offices,  for 
reasons  of  economy  and  convenience,  should  be  placed 
where  the  material  equipment,  research  foundations  and 
instructional  force  of  the  great  head  of  the  state  system 
may  become  available  for  its  use.  Although  this  close 
affiliation  with  the  intra-mural  processes  of  the  uni- 
versity is  important,  it  should  not  be  understood  that 
extension  instruction  shall  be  limited  to  courses  of  study 
of  university  grade,  nor  even  that  it  shall  conform  neces- 
sarily to  any  conventional  schedule  of  studies.  The  pres- 
ent range  of  extension  activities,  as  interpreted  by  an 
increasingly  large  number  of  colleges  and  universities, 
is  held  to  include  not  only  such  courses  as  entitle  the 
student  to  credit  toward  university  or  advanced  degree, 


320  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

school  teacher's  diploma,  or  other  certified  recognition, 
but  also  short  courses  and  conferences  not  leading  to  a 
degree,  and  the  promotion  of  a  great  variety  of  inter- 
ests that  reach  the  people,  both  young  and  old,  in  the 
intimate  relations  of  their  daily  life. 

In  this  breadth  of  scope  is  seen  the  vital  spirit  that 
animates  the  new  conception  of  university  extension — 
the  spirit  of  boundless  liberality  which  would  make  use- 
ful to  the  entire  people,  in  whatever  place,  in  whatever 
walk  of  life,  that  great  fund  of  knowledge  which  accumu- 
lates and  is  available  at  a  university — be  it  the  product 
of  research,  scholarship,  or  of  great  gifts  of  mind  and 
heart. 

Having  conceded  the  point  that  the  state  university 
is  the  natural  and  proper  guardian  of  the  educational 
interests  of  the  whole  people  of  the  state,  existing  under 
an  obligation  to  those  who  cannot  enter  her  walls  fully 
equal  to  that  she  owes  to  her  resident  study  body,  there 
arises  the  paramount  question  of  method  by  which  every 
part  of  the  state  shall  be  reached  by  the  university  with- 
out duplication  of  machinery,  yet  effectively  and  thor- 
oughly. It  is  probable  that  no  method  can  be  absolutely 
successful  which  does  not  involve  division  of  the  state 
into  districts  having  local  headquarters,  from  each  of 
which  the  various  activities  of  extension  shall  be  pro- 
moted within  the  limits  of  its  territory.  The  organiza- 
tion may  then  be  compared  to  a  great  wheel,  of  which 
the  hub  is  the  university,  the  rim  the  boundaries  of  the 
state,  and  the  spokes  the  lines  which  divide  the  whole 
into  districts. 

At  the  hub,  or  central  headquarters,  will  be  located 
the  dean,  director,  or  extension  committee,  the  several 
secretaries  of  departments,  and  the  specialists  who  offer 
lecture  courses,  prepare  correspondence — study  lessons, 


THE  LOCAL  UNIVERSITY   CENTER         321 

publish  bulletins  designed  to  aid  the  student  in  the  study 
of  topics  for  debate,  or  gather,  classify,  and,  if  neces- 
sary, edit  instructive  literature  dealing  with  subjects  use- 
ful to  the  student  as  a  private  individual,  or  as  a  citizen 
of  state  or  municipality. 

In  the  districts,  superintendents,  field  organizers,  and 
local  teachers  coming  into  immediate  contact  with  the 
people  whom  the  university  would  serve,  will  be  en- 
abled to  apply  the  benefits  of  university  extension  to  their 
specific  needs.  Here,  again,  the  working  plant  of  the 
public  educational  institution  may  be  of  use  in  the  pro- 
vision of  suitable  class  rooms,  lecture  halls,  laboratories, 
and  club  rooms. 

A  seemingly  insurmountable  obstacle  to  the  spread 
of  university  extension  in  rural  communities  or  villages 
has  existed,  heretofore,  in  the  apparent  lack  of  public 
gathering  places  and  other  facilities  for  the  meeting  of 
groups  for  study.  Though  criticism  of  our  failure  to 
utilize  our  school  plants  to  their  fullest  capacity  is  not 
new,  yet  it  is  only  with  the  comparatively  recent  use  of 
the  schoolhouse  as  a  social  center  that  the  tremendous 
possibilities  latent  in  the  out-of-school  hour  service, 
have  come  to  be  generally  recognized.  From  the  civic, 
social,  and  recreational  uses,  in  themselves  indirectly 
educational,  to  direct  educational  applications  has  been 
a  natural  step,  and  the  community  gatherings  at  the 
schoolhouse  center  are  natural  assemblers  of  the  ele- 
ments of  study  groups. 

In  the  coming  civic  clubs,  which  are,  or  should  be, 
holding  evening  sessions  in  schoolhouses  all  over  the 
country,  are  thousands  of  young  men  whose  education 
has  ended  with  graduation  from  the  high  school. 
Among  these,  many,  if  offered  the  chance,  would  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  continue  their  studies 


322  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

with  the  object  either  of  improving  their  vocational 
proficiency  or  of  acquiring  credit  toward  a  university 
education,  with  the  hope  of  completing  a  course  of  study 
in  future  residence  at  the  institution.  These  are  fre- 
quently youths  of  sturdy  frame  and  manly  qualities, 
worthy  of  the  best  the  state  can  give  them,  but  denied 
the  benefit  of  further  advantages  than  the  very  meager 
training  of  the  small  village  or  rural  school.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  their  lives  in  too  many  instances  forbid 
progress,  and  its  inevitable  converse,  deterioration,  fre- 
quently becomes  their  lot.  That  they  should  be  rescued 
from  this  condition,  at  however  great  a  cost  of  effort 
and  expense  on  the  part  of  the  government  for  altruistic 
reasons  alone,  is  evident,  but  in  this  day  the  fact  is  ac- 
knowledged that  education  for  efficiency  pays,  not  only 
in  returns  to  the  individual,  but  also  to  the  state.  It  is 
recognized  that  every  child  taken  from  school  and  put 
to  work  without  further  opportunity  for  education  repre- 
sents almost  invariably  a  ruined  life  and  always  a  loss 
in  dollars  and  cents  to  the  commonwealth. 

This  view  of  the  situation  rarely  occurs  to  the  young 
worker,  and  even  when  the  conclusion  is  forced  upon 
him  that  he  must  inevitably  be  left  behind  in  the  race 
with  his  trained  companion,  he  seldom  knows  how  to 
improve  his  condition,  and  the  only  result  of  his  obser- 
vation is  bitterness  of  spirit  and  discouragement. 

To  such  a  one  the  offer  of  training  applicable  to  his 
needs,  direct  from  the  university,  at  no  greater  cost  than 
his  means  will  afford,  under  such  conditions  as  leave  him 
free  to  continue  earning  a  livelihood  and  taking  him  no 
farther  afield  than  to  the  nearest  schoolhouse,  comes  as 
a  solution  of  difficulties  as  vital  as  life  itself. 

In  speaking  thus  of  the  needs  of  a  large  class  of  the 
youth  of  our  country,  young  folk  who  are  passing 


THE  LOCAL  UNIVERSITY   CENTER        323 

through  the  critical  period  of  the  formative  years  of 
their  existence,  an  important  possible  service  of  uni- 
versity extension  in  cooperation  with  other  educational 
agencies  throughout  the  state,  has  been  suggested.  This 
is  but  one  of  the  many  uses  of  university  extension  for 
people  remote  from  direct  university  influences. 

In  the  development  of  educational  activities  in  public 
school  centers,  the  requirements  of  all  classes  of  persons, 
of  every  individual,  may  be  considered.  These  activi- 
ties may  include  correspondence  study  courses  in  con- 
junction with  class  work,  lecture  courses,  illustrated  by 
lantern  slides,  or  motion  pictures,  lists  of  referred  read- 
ings for  the  study  of  given  subjects  for  general  informa- 
tion or  debate,  bulletins  presenting  briefs  dealing  with 
questions  of  the  day,  package  libraries  containing 
material  for  study  in  the  absence  of  local  libraries, 
apparatus  for  experimental  tests,  cooperation  in  special 
movements,  expert  advice  in  matters  relating  to  sane  and 
healthy  living,  et  cetera.  The  enumeration  fails  to  con- 
vey an  adequate  conception  of  the  significance  of  the  aid 
and  guidance  that  may  be  claimed  from  the  university 
through  the  agency  of  the  extension  division  working 
in  the  school  center.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that 
through  this  instrumentality  the  student  may  receive  as- 
sistance in  preparing  himself  for  advanced  standing  in 
school  or  university,  the  worker  may  improve  his  voca- 
tional proficiency,  the  citizen  may  inform  himself  upon 
matters  relating  to  improved  conditions  in  his  home, 
in  his  community  or  in  his  state,  and  all  may  receive 
a  stimulus  to  effort  that  will  result  in  better  conditions 
of  life  and  make  us  a  happier,  stronger,  and  more  intelli- 
gent people. 


CHAPTER   XX 

THE   MAGNIFIED   SCHOOL 

The  final  question  regarding  the  project  of  making 
the  schoolhouse  the  headquarters  of  the  district  voting 
body,  self-organized  into  a  deliberative  body,  and  then 
the  center  of  such  community  expression  as  the  neigh- 
boring citizens  may  desire  to  focus  there,  is  the  effect 
which  this  increased  use  of  the  building  will  have  upon 
the  school  in  its  primary  function  as  the  institution  of 
children's  education.  This  is  the  ultimate  and  deciding 
question,  not  only  because  the  use  of  the  schoolhouse 
for  the  education  of  children  "was  there  first,"  but  be- 
cause this  use  is  inherently  of  such  importance  that  if 
social  center  development  were  to  mean  injury  to  the 
school  in  this  prime  service,  no  arguments  in  its  favor 
would  counterbalance  this  single  argument  against  it. 
That  the  exact  opposite  of  injury  to  the  primary  service 
of  the  school  results  from  social  center  development — 
that  this  wider  use,  not  merely  does  not  interfere  with, 
but  powerfully  aids  the  school  in  its  primary  service — 
explains  the  unanimous  endorsement  of  this  movement 
by  such  bodies  as  the  National  Education  Association, 
and  the  willingness  to  cooperate,  which  may  everywhere 
be  expected  on  the  part  of  school  trustees,  superintend- 
ents, principals  and  teachers. 

In  the  paper  which  Dr.  Edward  C.  Elliott,  Professor 
of  Education  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  has  fur- 

324 


THE   MAGNIFIED    SCHOOL  325 

nished  upon  the  ways  in  which  social  center  development 
contributes  to  the  efficiency  of  the  primary  service  of 
the  schoolhouse,  he  uses  the  term  which  heads  this  chap- 
ter— The  Magnified  School — to  designate  the  social 
center.  A  few  years  ago  to  call  the  democratically 
based  and  completely  developed  community  institution  a 
"school"  would  have  been  to  suggest  that  in  their  use 
of  this  neighborhood  building  adult  citizens  were  to  give 
up  their  sovereignty  and  come  under  the  authority  of  a 
teacher.  Recognizing  the  danger  that  lay  in  that  pater- 
nalistic conception  of  the  term  "school,"  Professor 
George  M.  Forbes,  President  of  the  Rochester  Board 
of  Education,  clearly  and  strongly  differentiated  between 
the  "school"  and  the  wider  uses  of  the  neighborhood 
building.  But  we  are  very  rapidly  coming  to  enlarge 
our  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  word.  For  in- 
stance, a  member  of  the  Wisconsin  State  Legislature, 
addressing  a  gathering  of  citizens  in  a  social  center, 
spoke  of  the  state  house  as  "the  school  which  the  legis- 
lators attend,"  and  described  the  basic  idea  of  the  social 
center  in  practically  the  same  terms  which  President  Wil- 
son has  used,  as  being  "the  going  to  school  to  one  an- 
other of  citizens  in  each  district  for  the  understanding 
of  public  questions." 

This  use  of  the  term  "school"  is  made  by  John 
Stuart  Mill,  when,  in  his  "Representative  Government," 
he  describes  the  essential  civic  character  of  the  institu- 
tion of  democracy  which  is  realized  in  the  social  center. 
He  says:  "There  is  no  difficulty  in  showing  that  the 
ideally  best  form  of  government  is  that  in  which  the 
sovereignty  or  supreme  controlling  power  in  the  last  re- 
sort is  vested  in  the  entire  aggregate  of  the  community; 
every  citizen  not  only  having  a  voice  in  the  exercise  of 
that  ultimate  sovereignty,  but  being  at  least  occasionally 


326  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

called   on   to   take   an   actual   part   in   the   government. 

*  *     *     It  is  a  great  discouragement  to  an  individual 

*  *     *     to  be  reduced  to  plead  from  outside  the  door 
to  the  arbiters  of  their  destiny,  not  taken  into  consultation 
within.     *     *     *     What    is    still    more    important   than 
even  this   matter   of   feeling  is  the   practical   discipline 
which  the  character  obtains  from  the  occasional  demand 
made  upon  the  citizens  to  exercise     *     *     *     some  so- 
cial function.    It  is  not  sufficiently  considered  how  little 
there  is  in  most  men's  ordinary  life  to  give  any  largeness 
either  to  their  conceptions  or  to  their  sentiments.    Their 
work  is  a  routine,  not  a  labor  of  love,  but  of  self-interest 
in  the  most  elementary  form,  the  satisfaction  of  daily 
wants;  neither  the  thing  done  nor  the  process  of  doing 
it  introduces  the  mind  to  thoughts  or  feelings  extend- 
ing beyond  individuals;  if  instructive  books  are  within 
their  reach,  there  is  not  stimulus  to  read  them;  and  in 
most  cases  the  individual  has  not  access  to  any  person 
of  cultivation  much   superior  to  his  own.     Giving  him 
something  to  do  for  the  public  supplies,  in  a  measure, 
all  these  deficiencies.    If  circumstances  allow  the  amount 
of  public  duty  assigned  him  to  be  considerable,  it  makes 
him  an  educated  man.     *     *     * 

"Still  more  salutary  is  the  moral  part  of  the  instruc- 
tion afforded  by  the  participation  of  the  private  citizen 

*  *     *     in  public  functions.     He  is  called  upon  while 
so  engaged  to  weigh  interest  not  his  own,,  to  be  guided 
in  case  of  conflicting  claims  by  another  rule  than  his 
private  partialities;  to  apply,   at  every  turn,  principles 
and  maxims  which  have  for  their  reason  of  existence  the 
common  good.     He  is  made  to  feel  himself  one  of  the 
public.     *     *     * 

"Where   this  school  of    public    spirit   does   not   exist 
scarcely  any   sense   is  entertained   that  private  persons 


THE  MAGNIFIED   SCHOOL  327 

*  *  *  owe  any  duties  to  society,  except  to  obey  the 
laws  and  submit  to  the  government.  There  is  no  un- 
selfish identification  with  the  public.  Every  thought  or 
feeling,  either  of  interest  or  of  duty,  is  absorbed  in  the 
individual  and  in  the  family.  The  man  never  thinks  of 
any  collective  interests,  of  any  objects  to  be  purchased 
jointly  with  others,  but  only  in  competition  with  them, 
and  in  some  measure  at  their  expense.  A  neighbor  not 
being  an  ally  or  any  associate,  since  he  is  never  engaged 
in  any  common  undertaking  for  joint  benefit,  is,  there- 
fore, only  a  rival.  Thus,  even  private  morality  suffers, 
while  public  is  actually  extinct." 

A  very  striking  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  this 
conception  of  democracy  is  coming  to  common  recog- 
nition and  practical  expression  was  given  during  the  re- 
cent presidential  campaign.  The  chairmen  of  the  three 
leading  national  party  committees  had  sent  a  joint  request 
to  the  New  York  Board  of  Education  that  arrangements 
be  made  for  the  use  of  the  schoolhouses  in  that  city  as 
polling  places  and  as  common  pre-election  meeting  places. 
This  request  had  been  referred  to  the  committee  on  the 
wider  use  of  schoolhouses,  of  which  Commissioner  Her- 
man A.  Metz,  formerly  city  comptroller,  was  chairman. 
At  the  next  meeting  of  the  board  this  committee  recom- 
mended favorable  action  upon  this  request.  Immediately 
one  of  the  commissioners  called  upon  his  colleagues  to 
"kill  that  proposition,"  stating  as  the  reason  why  it  should 
be  "killed"  that:  "The  schoolhouses  were  built  for  edu- 
cation, and  they'll  not  be  used  for  politics."  In  reply 
General  George  Wingate,  one  of  the  oldest  members  of 
the  board,  said :  "I  agree  with  the  commissioner's  state- 
ment that  the  schoolhouses  were  built  for  education — and 
politics  is  education,  and  the  appropriate  place  for  politi-- 
cal  expression  is,  therefore,  the  schoolhouse." 


'328  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

It  is  in  this  larger  sense  of  the  common  institution 
which  serves  the  adult  political,  recreational,  social  self- 
education  of  the  community,  as  well  as  the  instruction 
of  children,  that  Professor  Elliott  uses  the  term  "school," 
as  he  considers  the  advantage  to  the  one-third  use  that 
we  have  been  making  which  will  come  with  the  full 
development  of  the  characteristic  institution  of 
America : 

.  In  what  ways  is  it  possible  for  the  public  school  social 
jbenter  movement  to  contribute  to  the  improvement  of 
those  activities  which  the  school  regularly  undertakes  in 
the  performance  of  its  duty  of  educating  children  ?  This 
is  the  question  that  has  been  submitted  to  me  for  a  brief 
>  reply.  Thus  far,  it  would  appear  that  the  campaign  to 
magnify  the  school  and  to  increase  its  usefulness  for 
the  common  good  has  been  carried  on  with  particular 
reference  to  that  portion  of  our  population — adults  and 
youthr— outside  of  the  field  of  the  normal,  direct  influence 
of  public  education.  Moreover,  the  principal  concern 
has  been  with  those  new  forms  and  forces  of  education 
and  recreation,  the  inherent  social  value  of  which  has 
only  lately  been  recognized.  Even  a  general  considera- 
tion of  the  whole  matter  brings  to  light  the  fact  that  the 
larger  and  more  conscious  economy  in  the  use  of  the 
school  building  and  equipment  must  inevitably  result  in 
the  utilization  by  the  school  of  all  of  the  later  agencies 
for  popular  education.  The  school  child,  as  well  as  the 
working  adult,  will  become  the  beneficiary  of  the  new 
education  of  our  citizenship.  The  conception  of  the 
school  as  the  broadest  and  most  comprehensive  of  our 
social  institutions  means  a  larger  conception  of  the  school 
as  an  educational  institution. 

The  following  items  have  been  selected  for  special  con- 


THE   MAGNIFIED    SCHOOL  329 

sideration,  not  only  because  they  represent  the  most  profit- 
able by-products  of  the  expansion  of  the  public  school 
into  a  social,  civic,  community  center,  but  also  because 
they  are  apt  to  be  omitted  from  the  customary,  casual 
enumeration  of  advantages.  Quite  obviously,  even  a 
partial  performance  of  the  manifold  activities  included 
within  the  program  of  the  school  as  a  social  center  will 
bring  to  the  school  itself  a  large  increment  of  opportunity 
for  the  effective  teaching  of  children.  The  gymnasium, 
the  indoor  and  outdoor  play  space  for  day  and  evening 
use,  the  vacation  school,  the  evening  school,  the  classes 
in  manual  arts  and  domestic  science,  the  library,  the  illus- 
trated lecture,  cannot  be  disconnected  from  the  organized 
work  of  the  day  school.  If  the  movement  accomplishes 
nothing  more  than  to  attract  public  attention  to  the 
necessity  and  worth  of  education  through  action,  it  will 
have  served  no  mean  end.  There  is  not  in  the  country 
to-day  a  city  or  rural  school  the  nominated  functions  of 
which  would  not  be  better  performed  as  a  result  of  this 
movement,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  through  the  in- 
creased material  equipment  which  the  socialized  school 
will  have. 

There  is  one  fundamental  form  of  public  school  better- 
ment that  may  be  suggested  here  parenthetically;  the 
improvement  of  the  public  school  building  itself.  In 
spite  of  the  millions  spent,  and  the  millions  spending,  the 
great  majority  of  schoolhouses,  in  city  and  country 
alike,  are  lamentably  deficient  in  providing  a  material 
surrounding  in  which  may  be  effectively  conserved  and 
developed  the  physical,  civic,  economic,  and  spiritual  ca- 
pacity of  children.  Neither  the  social  reform  through 
the  school  stimulated  by  the  movement  here  represented 
nor  the  educational  reform  of  the  school  advocated  to- 
day will  come  to  pass  until  public  financiers  and  school 


330  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

architects  give  a  larger  content  and  a  more  adaptable 
form  to  our  structures  used  for  school  purposes.  On 
the  physical,  hygienic  side  much  progress  has  been  made 
in  recent  years;  for  the  increase  of  civic,  economic,  and 
spiritual  service  scarcely  a  beginning  has  yet  been  at- 
tempted. 

First.  The  magnified  school  (this  term  appearing  to 
me  to  connote  most  appropriately  the  aim  of  the  larger 
movement  under  consideration)  will  provide  a  fit  time 
and  place  for  the  meeting  of  parent  and  teacher.  The 
tragic  consequences  in  our  education  of  the  alienation 
of  the  home  from  the  school  are  being  borne  in  upon  us 
more  and  more.  Any  method  or  means  that  will  substitute 
for  the  existing  indifference  of  the  home  a  positive  'and 
abiding  interest  in  the  work  of  the  school,  and  that  will 
also  permit  the  school  to  regulate  its  efforts  in  accord- 
ance with  the  special  conditions  to  which  the  home  holds 
the  key,  opens  the  way  for  the  accomplishment  of  a 
much  higher  educational  efficiency  than  now  generally 
obtains.  Teacher  and  parent  need  greater  opportunity 
for  natural  communion.  Under  present  conditions,  these 
two  potent,  controlling  factors  in  the  education  of  the 
child  endeavor  to  cooperate  only  in  cases  of  emergency 
and  under  circumstances,  which,  at  the  best,  are  arti- 
ficial. The  visits  of  the  teacher  to  the  home,  however 
much  gain  and  increase  in  harmony  it  may  result  in, 
rarely  avoid  the  semblance  of  condescension,  intrusion, 
or  formality.  The  visit  of  the  mother  to  the  school 
during  its  session,  good  in  manifold  ways  as  such  a  visit 
is,  whether  as  an  ordinary  or  an  extraordinary  event, 
does  not  give  chance  for  freedom  of  communication  be- 
tween parent  and  teacher  and  for  fullness  of  understand- 
ing of  the  common  problem.  And,  what  is  more  impor- 
tant, the  father,  under  the  existing  regime,  is  perforce  a 


THE   MAGNIFIED    SCHOOL  331 

dummy  director  on  the  board  of  control  of  the  child's 
education. 

Nearly  four  score  years  ago  a  Frenchman,  wise  be- 
yond his  generation,  gave  an  interpretation  of  our  democ- 
racy that,  for  its  insight  and  sympathy,  has  not  been  sur- 
passed. Therein  he  says,  "If,  then,  there  be  a  subject 
upon  which  a  democratic  people  is  peculiarly  liable  to 
abandon  itself,  blindly  and  extravagantly,  to  general 
ideas,  the  best  corrective  that  can  be  used  will  be  to 
make  that  subject  a  part  of  the  daily  practical  occupation 
of  that  people.  The  people  will  then  be  compelled  to 
enter  upon  its  details,  and  the  details  will  teach  them  the 
weak  points  of  the  theory  *  *  *  That  blindness 
and  extravagance  in  general  ideas  about  education  has 
been  one  of  the  cardinal  faults  of  our  democracy  may 
not  be  gainsaid.  That  there  is  great  need  for  a  more 
careful  study  of  the  details  of  the  public  schools  by  our 
citizenship,  especially  the  citizenship  that  is  composed  of 
parents,  is  pressing,  if  not  apparent. 

The  bulk  of  our  people  require  a  better  insight  into 
the  workings  and  purposes  of  all  grades  of  public 
schools.  Demands  in  that  quarter  are,  however,  no 
greater  than  the  urgency  of  larger  and  more  complete 
understanding  of  the  people  by  the  teachers  of  the 
schools.  Were  I  a  benevolent  monarch  of  our  educa- 
tional system,  I  would  decree  that  every  public  school 
should  be  kept  open  throughout  one  evening  of  each 
week,  and  that  every  teacher  should  be  on  duty  to  meet 
father  and  mother  for  the  face-to-face  discussion  of 
those  individual  problems  of  the  welfare  of  the  children 
presented  to  every  family.  More  than  this,  I  would  pre- 
scribe that  none  unable  or  unwilling  to  further  such 
an  enterprise  of  cooperation  should  be  qualified  as  a 
teacher,  And  yet  more,  I  would  impose  upon  parents, 


332  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

the  fathers  in  particular,  the  responsibility  of  carrying 
out  their  proper  share  of  the  plan.  In  truth,  though,  as 
long  as  the  parents  may  not  be  compelled  to  enter  upon 
the  essential  details  of  the  child's  school  education,  a 
favorable  opportunity  to  do  so  should  not  be  denied 
them.  The  parent-teacher  organizations  which  are  now 
becoming  more  general  throughout  the  country  repre- 
sent a  move  in  the  right  direction.  At  the  best  the  asso- 
ciations are  too  restricted  in  their  membership,  and  too 
formal  in  their  proceedings.  We  need  something  far 
more  comprehensive,  something  which  in  operation  lends 
itself  more  readily  to  meeting  the  interests  and  compli- 
cated relationship  of  the  school  and  the  home.  The 
school  neighborhood  activities  that  form  the  core  of 
the  social  center  movement  constitute  the  firmest 
foundation  for  a  new  and  yet  unknown  educational 
solidarity. 

Second.  The  magnified  school  will  afford  ways  and 
means  for  pupils,  especially  high  school  pupils,  to  accom- 
plish that  individual  and  independent  study  which  should 
form  the  necessary  part  of  any  effective  and  complete 
school  training.  Teachers,  as  a  class,  are  now  busying 
themselves  with  the  problem  of  how  children  study,  how 
they  conduct  and  control  their  intellectual  occupations; 
and  a  lot  is  being  discovered  that  accounts  for  the  fruit- 
lessness  of  much  of  the  ordinary  work  of  the  school. 
Above  all,  it  is  now  widely  recognized  that  any  success- 
ful economical  self-acquirement  by  school  pupils — which 
is  study — demands  method  and  favorable  environment. 
Recent  experience  in  many  localities  demonstrates  with- 
out question  that  the  utilization  of  the  school  for  the 
purposes  of  so-called  "home  study"  gives  that  study  a 
value  which  it  does  not  now  possess.  The  testimony  of 
District  Superintendent  E.  E.  Whitney,  of  New  York, 


THE   MAGNIFIED    SCHOOL  333 

on  this  whole  issue  is  pertinent  and  illustrative  of  the 
larger  thought  in  mind: 

The  study  rooms  fulfilled  their  missions  far  better  than 
formerly.  They  were  opened  in  every  center,  with  an  aver- 
age attendance  of  1,256.  The  majority  of  pupils  came  from 
the  seventh  and  eighth  grades,  which  are  always  over- 
crowded. Hundreds  of  children  too  timid  to  ask  questions 
in  the  classroom  and  handicapped  for  want  of  quiet  places 
to  study  cannot  advance  from  this  point  without  assistance. 
Each  principal  endeavored  to  ascertain  facts  about  the  home 
environment,  and  the  statistics  collected  verified  the  seem- 
ingly extravagant  statements  regarding  crowded  tenements. 
Excellent  teachers  are  assigned  to  these  rooms;  they  encour- 
aged questions,  explained  difficulties  and  provided  reference 
books.  Many  children  with  tearful  eyes  expressed  joy  at 
being  able  because  of  their  help  to  receive  an  "A"  mark  on 
report  cards.  (1909.) 

The  public  school  itself,  as  a  rule,  attempts  to  do  too 
much  for  the  child.  The  need  is  for  provisions  for  the 
child  to  do  for  himself. 

Third.  The  magnified  school  will  permit  the  inclu- 
sion, within  the  school  education  of  the  child,  of  a  num- 
ber of  invaluable  supplementary  means  for  making  the 
instruction  of  the  school  less  formal,  and  more  in  accord 
with  the  nature  of  the  learning  human  being.  The  fes- 
tival, the  dramatic  presentation,  the  story  telling,  the 
visual  instruction  through  the  stereopticon  and  moving 
pictures,  the  phonograph,  all  now  employed  as  means  of 
recreation  and  amusement,  will  have  their  real  educative 
possibilities  brought  to  the  fore.  The  education  of  the 
future  is  not,  if  the  signs  and  science  of  the  present  are 
not  leading  us  astray,  to  be  dominated  by  the  printed 
book  and  the  spoken  voice.  Other  instruments  for  stim- 


334  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

ulation  to  activity  and  for  influencing  right  conduct  may 
and  can  be  used  to  an  advantage.  The  experience  of 
the  larger  world  in  these  respects  is  teaching  a  valuable 
lesson  to  the  school. 

Fourth.  The  magnified  school  will  bring  within  its 
walls  the  doers  of  the  world's  work,  the  artisan  and  the 
merchant  who  will,  in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  the 
busy  practical  life  outside  of  the  school,  help  us  of  the 
school  to  do  that  which  should  be  done,  and  leave  un- 
done those  things  which  should  not  be  done.  There  is 
scarcely  a  subject  in  the  curriculum  of  the  elementary 
school  program,  to  say  nothing  of  the  secondary  school, 
that  would  not  be  the  gainer  by  being  made  to  strike  fire 
on  the  flint  of  the  world.  Perhaps,  too,  the  world  may 
gain  by  this  process.  The  work  of  the  school  is  not 
so  simple  as  it  seems.  Moreover,  in  this  day  of  the  un- 
mistakable tendency  toward  the  vocationalizing  of  the 
public  school  there  exists  a  double  necessity  of  constant 
contact  with  the  constructive  and  productive  members 
of  the  social  organization. 

Fifth.  The  magnified  school,  more  than  any  other 
agency  that  may  be  indicated,  will  cause  the  preeminent 
problems  of  moral  and  civic  education  to  stand  out  in 
proper  perspective.  Nine-tenths — one  may  be  fair — of 
the  so-called  instruction  that  aims  to  make  for  healthy, 
active  standards  of  citizenship  is  devoted  to  the  mouth- 
ing of  the  mere  form  of  civic  existence.  Vital  instruc- 
tion in  the  civic  virtues  means  contact  with  the  real  pul- 
sating civic  life.  The  citizenship  of  the  future  must  be 
trained  in  the  civic  forums  of  to-day.  And  the  civic 
forum  contemplated  in  the  organization  of  the  social 
center  gives  more  promise  of  contributing  virility  and 
strength  to  civic  education  than  any  effort  that  has  sought 
to  bulwark  political  institutions  since  the  days  when  the 


THE   MAGNIFIED   SCHOOL  335 

Athenian  boy  became  a  Greek  through  vitalizing  contact 
with  the  life  of  his  elders  and  the  Roman  boy  was  edu- 
cated with  and  by  Roman  citizens. 

Closely  linked  with  civic  education  is  the  more  funda- 
mental moral  education.  Any  detailed  exposition  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  expanded  school  is  impossible  at  this 
time.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  the  school  is  learning  that 
ethics  and  morals,  to  be  effectively  taught,  must  employ 
those  channels  of  influence  that  have  been  found  to  be 
necessary  in  other  subjects.  Words  and  formularies  will 
not  be  effective.  The  school  must  dig  deeper  if  it  wishes 
to  reach  those  strata  of  human  nature  out  of  which  comes 
the  richness  of  a  national  conduct. 

As  with  all  the  other  of  the  epoch-making  discoveries 
of  the  nineteenth  century  we  are  now  becoming  aware 
of  the  new  possibilities  and  of  the  wide  fields  of  use- 
fulness of  the  public  school.  In  this  respect  the  energy 
of  education  is  comparable  to  that  of  steam,  of  electric- 
ity, of  water,  or  of  chemical  reaction.  The  transforma- 
tion of  the  latent  forces  of  the  school  into  kinetic  social 
activities  that  may  be  directly  utilized  for  the  larger 
common  betterment  is  no  longer  a  matter  of  verbal  spec- 
ulation; the  process  is  going  on  all  about  us,  and  the 
efforts  to  accelerate  it  and  to  increase  the  value  and 
number  of  its  products  are  becoming  each  year  more 
conscious  and  more  evident. 

For  several  decades,  competent  judges  and  keen  ob- 
servers of  American  life  and  institutions,  especially  those 
from  abroad,  have  repeatedly  called  attention  to  the  ex- 
travagances and  conspicuous  lacks  of  sensible  economy 
that  characterize  all  of  our  doings.  The  national  guilt 
of  waste  is  being  gradually  borne  in  upon  us,  and  the 
vow  of  conservation  has  been  inserted  in  the  creed  of 
progress.  The  consciousness  of  the  evils  of  the  wastage 


336  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

of  material  things  is  being  succeeded  by  a  sharp  realiza- 
tion of  the  evils  of  the  wastage  of  spiritual  things.  This, 
as  I  understand  it,  is  the  underlying  motive  of  the  move- 
ment to  expand  the  school  into  a  center  for  community 
activity. 

This  later  and  larger  conception  of  the  function  of 
the  public  school  is  the  product  of  a  century's  experi- 
ence with  public  education.  The  nineteenth  century 
was  ushered  in  with  a  prevailing  sentimental  humani- 
tarian notion  of  the  education  of  the  people.  The  chil- 
dren of  the  unfortunate  and  the  need}'  were  to  be  sup- 
plied, in  a  paternalistic  manner,  with  their  minimum 
wants.  This  was  the  day  of  the  charity  school,  of 
worthy,  though  condescending,  educational  philanthropy, 
and  of  the  numerous  attempts  to  educate  the  masses 
through  cheap,  mechanical,  and  automatically  operated 
devices  for  instruction.  The  building  of  the  founda- 
tions of  the  public  school  for  the  children  of  a  demo- 
cratic people  will  remain  as  an  enduring  monument  to 
the  faith  and  courage  of  the  pioneers  of  a  new  civiliza- 
tion. The  completion  of  the  superstructure  of  this 
school  remains  yet  to  be  accomplished.  How  and  in 
what  manner  is  writ  large  in  the  contemporary  develop- 
ment of  public  education. 

The  original  constitution  of  the  public  school  was 
dominated  by  the  individualism  which  was  inherited 
from  a  score  of  generations  of  the  class  education  of 
the  mother  countries.  It  was  fashioned  to  meet  the  ele- 
mentary needs  of  a  child.  The  twentieth  century  public 
school  has  begun  to  discard  its  individualism  for  a 
broader  principle  of  socialization.  It  has  begun  to  ex- 
tend the  boundaries  of  its  sovereignty  so  as  to  include 
not  only  the  whole  of  the  territory  of  childhood,  but  that 
of  adulthood  as  well.  It  already  exercises  suzerainty 


THE   MAGNIFIED    SCHOOL  337 

in  those  spheres  over  which,  not  long  since,  other  great 
human  institutions  held  sway.  The  decline  of  the  in- 
fluence of  the  family,  of  the  church,  of  the  workshop, 
and  of  the  major  nationalizing  traditions  has  meant 
the  increase  of  the  domain  of  the  school.  And  as  the 
school  extends  the  frontier  of  education,  thereby  en- 
larging its  service  to  the  common  good,  it  will,  of  neces- 
sity, turn  its  attention  inward  and  utilize  the  external 
good  for  its  internal  improvement.  It  is  being  designed 
to  meet  the  completer  needs,  not  only  of  the  child,  but 
of  the  children. 


APPENDIX 
Suggested  Constitution  of  the  Neighborhood  Civic  Club 

PREAMBLE 

WHEREAS,  We,  the  citizens  of  precinct  (or  dis- 
trict) of  town  (or  city)  are  now  united  in  one 

political  organization  as  members  of  the  voting  body,  and 

WHEREAS,  The  responsibility  for  voting  demands  organ- 
ized preliminary  deliberation,  and 

WHEREAS,  The  public  school  building  affords  the  appro- 
priate and  convenient  headquarters  for  the  meetings  of  the 
district  voting  body,  self-organized  as  a  deliberative  body: 

THEREFORE,  We,  the  citizens  of  precinct  (or  dis- 
trict) of  town  (or  city)  do  constitute  ourselves  a 

deliberative  organization  or  NEIGHBORHOOD  Civic  CLUB,  to 
hold  meetings  in  the  public  school  building  for  the  open 
presentation  and  free  discussion  of  public  questions  and  for 
such  other  civic,  social  and  recreational  activities  as  give 
promise  of  common  benefit. 

For  the  better  government  of  the  same,  we  do  adopt  the 
following  CONSTITUTION  : 

ARTICLE   I 

NAME 

The  name  of  this  society  shall  be  the  NEIGHBORHOOD  Civic 
CLUB,  meeting  in school. 

339 


340  THE   SOCIAL   CENTER 

ARTICLE   II 
OBJECT 

The  object  of  this  organization  shall  be  the  development 
of  intelligent  public  spirit  through  the  holding  of  meetings 
in  the  school  building,  in  which  there  is  the  open  presenta- 
tion and  free  discussion  of  public  questions,  and  such  other 
activities  as  shall  promote  the  welfare  of  this  neighborhood. 

ARTICLE   III 

MEMBERSHIP 

Section  I.  Members:  Every  qualified  voter  living  in 
the  —  —  precinct  (or  district)  of  -  —  town  (or  city) 
is  a  member  of  this  NEIGHBORHOOD  Civic  CLUB. 

Section  II.  Associate  Members:  Every  person  not  a 
qualified  voter,  twenty-one  years  of  age  or  over,  living  in 
this  district  is  an  associate  member  of  this  NEIGHBORHOOD 
Civic  CLUB,  with  full  right  to  participate  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  this  body. 

ARTICLE   IV 

OFFICERS 

There  shall  be  seven  elected  officers  of  this  Club,  namely, 
President,  four  Vice-Presidents,  a  Secretary,  and  a  Treasurer. 

ARTICLE   V 

ELECTION   OF  OFFICERS 

All  of  the  officers  shall  be  elected  at  the  annual  meeting 

of  the  Club,  which  shall  be  held  on  ,  to  serve  for  a 

term  of  one  year  each. 


APPENDIX  341 

ARTICLE   VI 

DUTIES  OF  OFFICERS 

Section  I.  President:  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Club  and  also  to  serve 
as  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Club. 

Section  II.  First  Vice-President:  It  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  First  Vice-President  to  preside  at  the  meetings  of  the 
Club  in  the  absence,  or  at  the  request,  of  the  President. 

Section  III.  Second  Vice-President:  It  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Second  Vice-President  to  serve  as  chairman  of  the 
Program  Committee  of  the  Club. 

Section  IV.  Third  Vice-President:  It  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Third  Vice-President  to  serve  as  chairman  of  the 
Legislative  and  Improvement  Committee  of  the  Club. 

Section  V.  Fourth  Vice-President:  It  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  Fourth  Vice-President  to  serve  as  chairman  of  the 
Social  Committee  of  the  Club. 

Section  VI.  Secretary:  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Club  to  keep  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings 
of  this  Club  in  a  book — the  property  of  the  Club — to  keep  a 
list  of  active  members,  to  receive  additions  to  this  list,  to 
carry  on  the  correspondence  of  the  Club,  and  to  fulfill  such 
other  duties  as  usually  pertain  to  this  office. 

Section  VII.  Treasurer:  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Treasurer  to  handle  the  money  of  this  Club,  to  make  all  col- 
lections for  the  expenses  of  the  Club,  to  keep  a  record  of  all 
moneys  received,  spent,  and  on  hand,  and  to  report  upon  the 
state  of  the  treasury  whenever  called  upon  to  do  so. 

ARTICLE   VII 

COMMITTEES 

There  shall  be  four  committees  of  the  Club,  namely,  the 
Executive  Committee,  the  Program  Committee,  the  Legisla- 
tive and  Improvement  Committee,  and  the  Social  Committee. 
23 


342  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

ARTICLE   VIII 

t^  DUTIES    OF    COMMITTEES 

Section  I.  Executive  Committee:  The  Executive  Com- 
mittee shall  consist  of  the  elected  officers  of  the  Club.  It 
shall  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  confer  upon  questions 
regarding  the  welfare  of  the  Club,  to  consider  and  recom- 
mend matters  of  importance  to  the  Club,  and  in  unusual  mat- 
ters requiring  haste  to  act  for  the  Club. 

Section  II.  Program  Committee:  The  Program  Commit- 
tee shall  consist  of  the  Second  Vice-President  and  four  other 
members  chosen  by  him.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  commit- 
tee to  arrange  programs  for  all  of  the  meetings  of  the  Club, 
to  secure  speakers,  and  to  suggest  topics  of  discussion  which 
shall  assure  live,  interesting,  and  profitable  meetings. 

Section  III.  Legislative  and  Improvement  Committee: 
The  Legislative  and  Improvement  Committee  shall  consist  of 
the  Third  Vice-President  and  four  members  chosen  by  him. 
It  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  committee  to  investigate  all  mat- 
ters recommended  for  legislation  and  all  questions  of  local 
improvement  which  may  be  referred  to  it  by  the  Club,  also 
to  suggest  matters  upon  which  the  Club  should  act. 

Section  IV.  Social  Committee:  The  Social  Committee 
shall  consist  of  the  Fourth  Vice-President  and  four  other 
members  appointed  by  him.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  So- 
cial Committee  to  promote  neighborhood  hospitality,  through 
the  arrangement  of  such  special  programs,  entertainments, 
serving  of  refreshments  or  other  social  features  as  the  Club 
may  from  time  to  time  direct  or  desire. 

ARTICLE   IX 

MEETINGS 

The  Club  shall  hold  a  regular  meeting  each evening 

in  the  room  in  the school,  between  7:30  and 

1 0:00  p.  M. 


APPENDIX  343 

ARTICLE   X 
DUES 

There  shall  be  no  regular xhlejpiof  this  Club.  Members 
of  the  club  may  contribute  -a^~j;  cents  per  year  to  pay 
the  expense  of  sending  notices  of  the  meetings  erf  the  Club 
and  such  other  incidental  expenses  as  may  be  "incurred. 

'      ARTICLE  XI 

QUORUM 

Ten  active  members  of  the  Club  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
for  the  transaction  of  all  business. 

ARTICLE   XII 

AMENDMENTS 

This  constitution  may  be  altered  or  amended  by  a  two- 
thirds  vote  of  the  members  present  at  any  regular  meeting. 

BY-LAWS   AND   ORDER   OF   BUSINESS 

BY-LAW  I.  The  meeting  shall  be  called  to  order  by  eight 
o'clock  or  earlier,  so  that  the  business  routine  may  be  dis- 
posed of  and  the  speaker  of  the  evening  may  be  introduced 
not  later  than  fifteen  minutes  past  eight. 

The  main  address  shall  be  finished  and  the  subject  of 
the  evening  thrown  open  for  general  discussion  at  or  before 
nine  o'clock. 

This  discussion  shall  last  not  longer  than  three-quarters 
of  an  hour,  and  should  close  with  a  ten-minute  opportunity 
for  the  speaker  to  sum  up  the  discussion  and  to  answer 
questions. 

BY-LAW  II.  The  chairman  of  the  meeting  shall  leave 
the  chair  in  order  to  engage  in  discussion. 


344  THE    SOCIAL   CENTER 

BY-LAW  III.  In  speaking  from  the  floor  in  the  open  dis- 
cussion which  follows  the  main  address,  the  parliamentary 
rules  of  addressing  the  chair,  etc.,  shall  be  strictly  followed. 

BY-LAW  IV.  Speeches  from  the  floor  are  limited  to  five 
minutes  and  the  time  may  be  extended  only  by  unanimous 
consent. 

BY-LAW  V.  No  speaker  may  have  the  floor  a  second  time 
unless  all  others  who  wish  to  speak  have  had  opportunity  to 
do  so. 

BY-LAW  VI.  Speeches  from  the  floor  must  deal  with  the 
subject  chosen  for  discussion. 

Order  of  Business: 

I.     Call  to  order. 
II.     Minutes  of  previous  meeting. 

III.  Report  of  standing  committees. 

IV.  Report  of  special  committees. 
V.     Treasurer's  report. 

VI.  Unfinished  business. 

VII.  New  business. 

VIII.  Special  program. 

IX.  Discussion. 

X.  Adjournment. 

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696-697,  February  12,  1910. 

Taylor,  G.  R.    City  Neighbors  at  Play.    Survey,  Vol.  24,  pp. 

548-559»  July  2,  1910. 
Vincent,  George  E.     The  New  Duty  of  the  School.     Pro- 

ceedings of  Wisconsin  Teachers'  Association,  1907,  pp. 

137-139. 

Ward,  Edward  J.  Rochester  Social  Centers  and  Civic 
Clubs;  Story  of  the  First  Two  Years.  Published  by 
League  of  Civic  Clubs,  Rochester,  New  York;  price, 
forty  cents. 

-  Rochester  Social   Centers.     Proceedings  of  Third  An- 
nual Congress  of  the  Playground  Association  of  Amer- 
ica, Vol.  3,  pp.  387-396,  1908. 

-  The  Use  of  the  Public  School  Building  as  a  Social  Cen- 
ter and  Civic  Club  House.     Cincinnati   Conference  of 
the  National  Municipal  League,  pp.  35-37,  1909. 

-  Rochester's  Experiment.     Cincinnati  Conference  of  the 
National  Municipal  League,  pp.  123-124,  1909. 

—  i  —  Use  of  School  Buildings.  Cincinnati  Conference  for 
Good  City  Government,  p.  40,  1909. 

d  Schoolhouse.    Charities,  Vol.  22,  pp.  640-649, 

•  >s 

,  1909.      -^  v 

From  the  Corners  to  the  Center.  School  Progress, 
November,  1909. 

Rochester  Movement.  Independent,  Vol.  67,  pp.  860- 
86  1,  October  14,  1909. 

The  Rochester  Social  Center  and  Civic  Club  Movement. 
American  School  Board  Journal,  Vol.  40,  pp.  4-5,  Feb- 
ruary, 1910. 

The  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom—  What  to  Do.  The 
Rochester  Social  Centers,  Vol.  2,  pp.  146-152,  October, 
1910. 


APPENDIX 


351 


A    More    Important    Discovery.      National    Municipal 

League  Clipping  Sheet,  February  15,  1910. 

Ward,  Edward  J.  Where  Race  Barriers  Fall.  The  Circle, 
Vol.  7,  pp.  261-262,  302,  May,  1910. 

Playground  and  Social  Center  Work  in  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Playground  Magazine,  Vol.  4,  pp.  108-118,  June,   1910. 

Public   Recreation    in   America.     LaFollette's   Weekly, 

Vol.  2,  pp.   lo-u,  June  25,   1910. 

Public  Recreation.     National   Conference  of  Charities 

and  Correction,  Buffalo,  pp.  180-181,  1909. 

The  Schoolhouse  or  the  Saloon.    The  Outlook,  Nov.  2, 

1912. 

Introductory  Statement,  The  Bureau  of  Civic  and  So- 
cial Center  Development.     Univ.  Wis.  Extension  Divi- 
sion Bulletin. 
'   A  Point  of  Agreement.    American  City,  October,  1912. 

The  Schoolhouse  as  the  Civic  and  Social  Center  of  the 

Community.     Univ.   Wis.   Extension  Division   Bulletin. 

Webster,  Frederick  S.  Newsie,  Vol.  I,  pp.  20-21,  October, 
1909. 

Welsch,  Herbert.  Socialization  of  the  School.  Ohio  Edu- 
cational Monthly,  July,  1909. 

Weston,  E.  O.    The  Public  School  as  a  Social  Center.    Ele- 
mentary School  Teacher,  Vol.  6,  p.  108,  October,  1905. 
^/Wilson,  Woodrow.     The  Social  Center,  A  Means  of  Com- 
mon  Understanding.     Univ.   Wis.    Extension   Division 
Bulletin. 

Yerkes,  Helen  K.  Social  Centers.  The  Playground,  De- 
cember, 1910,  Playground  Association,  i  Madison  Ave- 
nue, New  York  City. 

Young,  Dr.  George  B.  The  Schoolhouse  as  a  Local  Health 
Office.  Univ.  Wis.  Extension  Division  Bulletin. 

Zueblin,  Charles.  Public  Schools.  American  Municipal 
Progress,  1902,  pp.  159-165;  358. 

Training  of  the  Citizen.    Decade  of  Civic  Development, 

1905,  pp.  25-30. 


INDEX 


Alma,     Kan.,     social     use     of 

schools  in,  359,  360 
Appleton,    Wjs.,    schoolhouses 

as  civic  centers  in,  66 

Bacheller,   Irving,   on  political 

atavism,  59 
Br.gehot,  on  educational  value 

of  discussion,  87 
Baker,      Ray      Stannard,      on 

school  centers  in  Rochester, 

200,  201 

Beard,  William,  on  social  cen- 
ter and  political   campaigns, 

163 

Bibliography,  344-351 
Bicameral  legislature,  absurdity 

of,  in  democracy,  117 
Bloomfield,   Meyer,  on   service 

of    vocational    schools,    271, 

272 
Boston,    "1915    movement"    in, 

178;     municipal     music     in, 

231 ;     recreation    centers     in 

schools    of,    255;    vocational 

training  in,  274 
Boy  Scouts,  133 
Branch      libraries      in     public 

schools,  34,  209,  212-220,  310 
Brooklyn,  Sunday  concerts  and 

lectures  in  schools  of,  259 
Brown,   E.   E.,   on  neighborli- 

ness,  loo 


Buckley,  William,  on  repre- 
sentative government,  52 

Buffalo,  social  center  move- 
ment in,  184 

Carnegie  libraries,  215 

Chicago,  recreation  centers  in, 
134,  135,  138,  255 

Chicago  Vice  Commission,  258 

Child  hygiene,  283-301 

Cincinnati,  campaign  for  so- 
cial centers  in,  172-174; 
evening  gymnasium  classes 
in  schools  of,  257 

Citizen,  ignorance  of,  152-153 

City  council,  20-22 

Civic  secretaries,  teachers  as, 
30-35;  responsibility  of,  36 

Cleveland,  Frederick  A.,  on 
will  of  the  people,  19;  on 
negligence  of  citizen,  46 

College  graduate,  activity  of, 
in  community,  315 

Colonies,  development  of  na- 
tionalism in,  6-8 

Commons,  John  R.,  on  func- 
tions of  the  employment  bu- 
reau, 279-282 

Creel,  George,  on  social  cen- 
ters, 161 

Crosby,  Ernest,  on  wealth,  59 

Crothers,  Samuel  McCord,  on 
social  value  of  music,  228 


353 


354 


INDEX 


Dancing  in  public  schools,  Jer- 
sey City,  258;  in  recreation 
centers,  New  York  City,  258, 
267-8;  social  value  of,  145-6 

Declaration    of    Independence, 

234 
Democracy,      cooperation      in, 

307;  people  in  a,  56,  69,  157, 

158,  325-328,  331 
Dental  clinics  in  public  schools, 

285,    287,    290,    291,    293-298, 

300-301. 
Dresden,     Arnold,     on     social 

value  of  music,  229-331 
D.uluth,   campaign   for   centers 

in,  256 

Dyer,  F.  B.,  on  schools  as  so- 
cial centers,  175 

Electorate,  inchoate  condition 
of,  20-21 

Elliott,  Edward  C,  on  wider 
use  of  schools,  328-337 

Emerson,  Henry  P.,  on  school 
centers  in  Rochester,  202 

Employment  bureaus,  adjust- 
ment of  labor  market  by, 
280;  necessitated  by  seasonal 
employment,  279 ;  organiza- 
tion of  an  ideal  bureau,  280- 
282 

Evanston,  social  survey  of,  257 

Evening  schools,  275-277 

Family,  origin  of,  104;  position 
of  child  in,  108;  protection 
of  the,  in;  social  unit,  105 

Farmer,  environment  of  the, 
305-306 

Festival  center,  the,  234-240 


Festivals,  democratic  influence 
of,  239;  social  value  of,  238 

Fleischer,  Charles,  on  social 
center,  39 

Folwell,  Prof.,  on  organized 
citizenship,  3 

Foulke,  William  Dudley,  on 
art  in  the  public  schools  at 
Richmond,  Ind.,  221-227 

Gale,  Zona,  on  obligations  of 
the  individual,  122 

Gaylord,  Winfield,  on  social 
centers  in  Rochester,  203 

Goler,  George  W.,  on  child  hy- 
giene, 283-292 

Government,  conceptions  of, 
3-7,  57-58;  coordination  need- 
ed in,  9,  10,  119;  efficiency 
in,  171;  forms  of,  118,  325- 
327;  inefficiency  of,  119; 
woman  in,  120 

Grand  Rapids,  branch  libraries 
in  schools,  34;  schools  used 
as  polling  places  in,  14 

Gross,  A.  W.,  on  the  civic  club, 
38 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  on  the 
people,  69 

Harvard  University,  instruc- 
tion in  vocational  guidance 
in,  274 

Hetherington,  Clark  W.,  on 
schoolhouse  as  a  social  cen- 
ter, 136,  137 

Holman,  Clarence,  on  needs  of 
rural  communities,  302-313 

Hooker,  George  E.,  on  civic 
development,  155,  156 


INDEX 


355 


Howes,  J.  W.,  on  need  of  or- 
ganized citizenship,  56 

Hughes,  Charles  E.,  on  bene- 
fits of  civic  assemblies,  56; 
on  public  schools  as  social 
centers,  190-193 

Johnston,  Mrs.  M.  R,  on  art  in 
public  schools,  Richmond, 
Indiana,  221 

Kansas  City,  social  centers  in, 

184 
Ketcham,  Edna  Murray,  Song 

of  the  Neighborhood,  101 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  80,  in 

La    Follette,     Robert    M.,    on 

civic  organization,  38 
Library,  a  continuation  school, 

215,  219 
Lindsey,  Judge  Ben  B.,  on  the 

beast,    50;    on    criminology, 

116 
Los  Angeles,  election  of  1912 

in,  80,  82;  schools  as  polling 

places      in,      16;      municipal 

newspaper  in,  85 

Madison,  Wis.,  social  center  in, 
163 

Markham,  Edwin,  The  Man 
with  the  Hoe,  205 

Martin,  E.  S.,  on  festivals  and 
celebrations  in  public 
schools,  237 

Massachusetts,  social  use  of 
schools  in,  256 

McFarland,  J.  Horace,  on  ig- 
norance of  good  citizen,  152 


McLenegan,  Charles  E.,  on 
branch  libraries  in  schools, 
213-215 

Men  and  Religion  Forward 
Movement,  260 

Merrill,  Wis.,  failure  of  recre- 
ation center  in,  135 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  on  best  form 
of  government,  325,  326,  327 

Milwaukee,  election  of  1912  in, 
85;  library  in,  218;  recreation 
centers  in  schools,  256; 
schools  as  polling  places  in, 
17;  social  centers  in,  160 

Minneapolis,  branch  libraries 
in  public  schools  of,  34 

Mosher,  Howard  T.,  on  school- 
house  as  logical  social  cen- 
ter, 184 

Motion  pictures,  cost  of,  249- 
251 ;  establishment  of  educa- 
tional film  exchange  for,  250; 
eye  strain  of,  246,  247;  in 
school  budget,  249;  in  school 
curriculum,  244-248 ;  in 
school  extension,  248;  in 
schools  of  Wisconsin,  241 ; 
in  vocational  schools,  278; 
number  of  theaters  for,  in 
United  States,  241;  social 
value  of,  242,  243,  245,  248 

Municipal  music,  in  Boston, 
231;  in  Rochester,  228;  in 
Richmond,  Ind.,  229;  in 
Europe,  231 ;  New  York  City, 
232 

Music  centers,  228-233 

National  conference  on  Social 
Center  Development,  First, 
205 


356 


INDEX 


National  Congress  of  Mothers, 
258 

Neighborhood  associations, 
federation  of,  36-39;  need  of, 
83 

Neighborhood  civic  club,  sug- 
gested constitution  for,  339- 

344 

Neighborhood  library  in  public 
school,  34 

New  York  City,  baths  in 
schools  of,  264;  budget  ex- 
hibit in,  154;  clubs  in,  265, 
266;  dancing  in  public 
schools  of,  258;  dental  clinic 
in  schools  of,  298,  300,  301 ; 
program  for  extension  of 
recreation  centers  in,  268,; 
269;  public  music  in,  232; 
public  school  lectures  in, 
178;  recreation  centers  in, 
255,  262;  school  athletics  in, 
263;  school  games  in,  264; 
school  libraries  in,  264,  265 ; 
study  rooms  in  schools  of, 

257 
New      York      Federation      of 

Churches,  260 
Nurses  in  public  schools,  285, 

287,  2.90,  291 


Oklahoma,  use  of  schools  in, 
259;  rural  social  centers  in, 
304,  308 

Organized  citizenship,  need  of, 
2,  23,  309-313;  need  of  dis- 
cussion in,  23,  24,  46,  51-56; 
167-168;  need  of  expert 
counsel  for,  65,  66;  problem 
of,  ii 


Oyen,  Henry,  on  social  center 
development  in  Rochester, 
194 

Parties,  harm  caused  by,  87; 
neighborhood  organization 
as  a  substitute  for,  88 

Partisanship,  74-76,  78,  86 

Party  platforms,  73 

Perry,  Clarence  Arthur,  on 
wider  use  of  schools,  254, 
255 

Philadelphia,  recreation  cen- 
ters in  schools  of,  255; 
school  dentists  in,  300 

Physicians  in  schools,  276, 
284,  285,  287,  288,  289,  290, 
293 

Plant  quarantine,  169 

Political  organization,  Chicago 
Republican  Convention,  77 ; 
defined,  70,  71 ;  usurped  by 
small  groups,  72 ;  kind  of,  re- 
quired to-day,  80 

Political  reform,  63 

Politics,  cause  of  bad,  93 

Polling  place,  relation  of,  to 
organized  citizenship,  n,  12; 
school  used  as,  14,  15,  16,  17, 
18 

Pomerene,  Atlee,  on  need  of 
voters'  league,  56 

Public  school,  as  a  social  cen- 
ter, cheapness  of,  27,  66,  67, 
136,  187;  discussion  stimu- 
lated by,  74,  logicalness  of, 
69,  136,  140,  141,  184,  305; 
means  toward  practical  poli- 
tics, 123,  142;  moral  influ- 
ence of,  252,  253;  opposition 
to,  195 ;  politics  improved  by, 


INDEX 


357 


91,  92,  182 ;  why  not  so  used, 

97 

Public  school,  uses  of,  as 
branch  library,  34,  209,  212- 
220,  310;  as  festival  center, 
234-240 ;  as  motion-picture 
theater,  241-251;  as  music 
center,  228-233;  as  polling 
place,  13-20,  25,  327;  as  pub- 
lic art  gallery,  221-227;  as 
public  forum,  210,  253,  254; 
as  public  lecture  center, 
207-211;  as  recreation  cen- 
ter, 252-270;  as  social  center 
in  rural  communities,  302- 
314;  as  vocation  center  and 
employment  bureau,  271-282; 
as  voters'  league,  43-68;  ex- 
tension of,  175,  208,  209,  210, 
324-337 

Rauschenbusch,  Walter,  on  so- 
cial classes,  78,  79 

Reber,  Louis  E.,  on  program  of 
extension  division,  Univer- 
sity of  Wisconsin,  317-323 

Richmond,  Ind.,  art  gallery  in 
public  school  in,  198,  221, 
227 ;  music  in  schools  of,  229 

Rochester,  art  gallery  in  pub- 
lic school  in,  198;  branch  li- 
braries in  public  schools  of, 
34,  199;  dental  clinics  in  pub- 
lic schools  of,  198,  294-298; 
motion  pictures  in  schools 
of,  198;  social  center  in,  102, 
in,  127,  146,  147,  148,  149, 
160,  162-166,  172,  175-202. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  on  the 
courts,  70;  on  playgrounds, 
270 

24 


Rural  schools,  as  social  cen- 
ters, 96,  302-314 

Saloon,  as  a  social  center,  63- 
65 

School  board,  as  an  adjunct  to 
political  machines,  177 

School  superintendents,  as  so- 
cial center  secretaries,  30-35, 
307 

School  system,  failure  of,  138 

Schubert,  Joseph  C,  on  rela- 
tion of  social  center  to  pub- 
lic official,  53-54 

Secretarial  service,  28-30 

Seidel,  Emil,  on  need  of  neigh- 
borhood organization,  55 

Smith,  R.  E.,  on  social  center 
in  Sherman,  Texas,  150 

Social  center,  aids  officeholder, 
125,  182 ;  as  a  means  of  dem- 
ocratic expression,  38,  89-90; 
as  a  means  toward  social 
contentment,  99;  definition 
of,  I ;  detailed  organization 
of  a,  126-128;  development 
of,  economizes  social  forces, 
34-35,  67-68,  90,  93-95,  139; 
educational  importance  of, 
115,  166,  318-323;  fosters  a 
community  spirit,  107,  108; 
importance  of  school  in,  13; 
mayor,  the  logical  president 
of,  188,  197;  must  be  demo- 
cratic, 102,  103;  need  of,  in 
rural  communities,  144,  145, 
302-314,  321 ;  relation  of,  to 
politics,  163,  182;  relation 
of,  to  university,  315-323;  re- 
sults of,  39,  in,  143,  144, 
313,  314 


358 


INDEX 


Social  Center  Association  of 
America,  206 

Socialization  of  the  individual, 
106,  109 

St.  Louis,  neighborhood  li- 
braries in  schools  of,  34; 
recreation  centers  in  schools, 
256 

State  university,  importance  of, 
to  social  center,  318-323 

Steffens,  Lincoln,  on  civic  sal- 
vation, 46 

Stitt,  Edward  W.,  on  growth 
of  cities,  261 ;  on  social  cen- 
ter in  Rochester,  177 

Straubenmiiller,  Gustave,  on 
lectures  in  public  schools  in 
New  York  City,  178 

Texas,  rural  social  centers  in, 
308,  313 

The  Survey,  First  National 
Conference  on  Social  De- 
velopment, 205 

Tynam,  Tom,  on  prison  re- 
form, 121 

University  of  Wisconsin,  Ex- 
tension Division,  203,  241, 
317,  3i8 

Vocational  schools,  adjustment 
of  labor  supply  by,  281-282; 
need  of,  271-274;  program 
for,  276-279 

Von  Suttner,  Baroness  Bertha, 
on  organized  citizenship,  2 

Voters'  league,  attitude  of,  to- 
ward officials,  60;  character 
of,  44,  45;  disliked  by  office- 
holders, 44,  49,  50;  effect  of, 


on  officials,  61 ;  ineffective 
methods  of,  62,  63;  must  be 
all-inclusive,  47-51;  need  of, 
50-57;  neighborhood  gather- 
ing, 6b 


Warbasse,  J.  P.,  on  prostitu- 
tion, 143 

Ward,  Frank,  on  discussion  in 
government,  51 

Washington,  D.  C,  social  use 
of  schools  in,  256 

Washington,  George,  on 
parties,  84;  on  right  of  peo- 
ple to  change  constitution, 
61 

Webster's  definition  of  politics, 
72 

Weil,  A.  Leo,  on  participation 
of  citizen  in  government,  46 

White,  William  Allen,  on  de- 
velopment of  social  centers, 
39-42 

Whitney,  E.  E.,  on  schools 
used  for  "home  study,"  333 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  on  college 
graduate  in  politics,  315;  on 
community  as  a  unit,  107;  on 
constitution,  61 ;  on  need  of 
publicity  in  government, 
174;  on  popular  government, 
181,  206;  on  sovereignty,  151 

Wisconsin,  motion  pictures  in 
schools  in,  241 ;  schools  as 
polling  places  in,  26 

Woman,  in  government,  120, 
121 ;  sphere  of,  113,  114 

Wood,  Eugene,  on  neighborli- 
ness,  102 

World  Scout  Movement,  133 


INDEX 


359 


Wright,    William    Burnett,    on 
organized  citizenship,  2 

Young,  George  B.,  on  health  of 
school  children,  283 


Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, activities  of,  130- 
132;  origin  of,  129 

Youngstown,  playgrounds  in, 
256 


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